Evidence for the role of selection for reproductively advantageous alleles in human aging

The antagonistic pleiotropy hypothesis posits that natural selection for pleiotropic mutations that confer earlier or more reproduction but impair the post-reproductive life causes aging. This hypothesis of the evolutionary origin of aging is supported by case studies but lacks unambiguous genomic evidence. Here, we genomically test this hypothesis using the genotypes, reproductive phenotypes, and death registry of 276,406 U.K. Biobank participants. We observe a strong, negative genetic correlation between reproductive traits and life span. Individuals with higher polygenetic scores for reproduction (