ELSI • GC Exchange, hosted by The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, is an educational series designed for genetic counselors. This series provides a unique opportunity to earn Category 1 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) while exploring various Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues (ELSI) pertinent to genetic counseling.
Polygenic scores (PGS) for educational traits and outcomes (e.g., math ability, reading ability, and educational attainment) are currently available to the public via direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies, such as GenePlaza. A PGS is a DNA-based genetic predictor in the sense that it places an individual’s sample of DNA on a spectrum from low to high. So, in theory, people with a high percentile rank PGS score for educational attainment would be likely to accrue more years of schooling in their lifetime than people with lower ranked scores.