Evidence · Replicated

What the research found

In the cited research, the A allele at rs4886238 was associated with later age at natural menopause in studied women.

GG: Earlier
AG: Middle
AA: Later

Slight effect

What the study found

In the study, each copy went with age at natural menopause about 0.17 years higher on average.

Women of European descent with natural menopause between 40 and 60, in 21 replication studies · Table 1, rs4886238 row (region 13b), Replication line

Evidence: Genome-wide association with independent replication
Who was studied: Women of European descent

The research behind this card was done only in women, so it is part of a report requested as female.

1000 Genomes Project

How common each genotype is

How common each genotype is in the 1000 Genomes Project, by region
Region	GGEarlier	AGMiddle	AALater
All regions2,504 people	57%	35%	8%
Africa661 people	54%	38%	8%
The Americas347 people	58%	35%	6%
East Asia504 people	88%	11%	<1%
Europe503 people	41%	49%	10%
South Asia489 people	43%	43%	14%

Among the 2,504 people of the 1000 Genomes Project, in five world regions. These percentages describe groups of people, never anyone’s chance of having a trait.

Ancient genomes

Through time

How often the studied letter was read in ancient people, era by era, in the region chosen.

Region

Through time: Europe
Before farmingbefore 6500 BC	5%Few people sampled: 1 of 19 copies read
First farmers6500 to 3000 BC	27%39 of 145 copies read
Bronze Age3000 to 1200 BC	35%25 of 72 copies read
Iron Age and Antiquity1200 BC to AD 600	26%47 of 182 copies read
Middle AgesAD 600 to 1500	32%56 of 174 copies read
Today1000 Genomes	35%348 of 1,006 copies

Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes

Altai Neanderthal: 2 copies
Vindija Neanderthal: 2 copies
Chagyrskaya Neanderthal: 2 copies
Denisovan: 2 copies

Neanderthals and Denisovans carried this letter too: it is the older of the two.

For most ancient people only one of their two copies can be read, so these counts are copies read, not people. Close relatives, repeated samples and samples the archive marks as unreliable are left out. Damage in old DNA can fake this letter, so it is counted only from samples treated to remove that damage and from high-quality genomes. Ancient genomes from the Allen Ancient DNA Resource (AADR v66): 15,136 people.

rs4886238

The marker

Gene or region: TDRD3
Marker: rs4886238
Location: Chromosome 13 · GRCh37 61,113,739 · GRCh38 60,539,605
Letters studied: A and G, with A as the studied allele

A DNA Traits report reads this marker in your raw DNA file and shows which of the three genotypes is yours, with how common it is. It counts the copies of the studied allele; it does not measure the trait itself.

Marker: TDRD3 · rs4886238
Location: Chromosome 13 · GRCh37 61,113,739 · GRCh38 60,539,605
Studied allele: A
Published statistic: Replication beta +0.166 years per A allele (SE 0.049), P 6.09e-4, A frequency 0.333; discovery +0.172 (SE 0.031), P 3.76e-8, A frequency 0.334, 38,968 women; combined +0.17 (SE 0.026), P 9.53e-11 (Stolk 2012 Table 1). Day 2015 Table 1: -0.18 (SE 0.02) years per G allele, P 2.5e-16, 69,314 women (Table 1, rs4886238 row (region 13b), Replication line)
1000 Genomes Project phase 3, people with 0, 1 and 2 copies: All regions 1423 / 885 / 196 · Africa 360 / 251 / 50 · The Americas 202 / 123 / 22 · East Asia 445 / 54 / 5 · Europe 205 / 248 / 50 · South Asia 211 / 209 / 69

See this card in the sample report

Limits

What it cannot tell you

Studied in women of European descent and concerns natural menopause, not menopause after surgery or treatment. A single marker, one of about 290 linked to the age at natural menopause.

Meta-analyses identify 13 loci associated with age at menopause and highlight DNA repair and immune pathways (Stolk et al., 2012)

The same topic

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