News tagged with heritability
Researchers complete largest genetic sequencing study of human disease
Researchers from Queen Mary, University of London have led the largest sequencing study of human disease to date, investigating the genetic basis of six autoimmune diseases.
Genetics
May 22, 2013 |
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Blame your parents for bunion woes
A novel study reports that white men and women of European descent inherit common foot disorders, such as bunions (hallux valgus) and lesser toe deformities, including hammer or claw toe. Findings from the Framingham Foot ...
Arthritis & Rheumatism
May 20, 2013 |
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Family history of Alzheimer's associated with abnormal brain pathology
Close family members of people with Alzheimer's disease are more than twice as likely as those without a family history to develop silent buildup of brain plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease, according to researchers ...
Alzheimer's disease & dementia
Apr 17, 2013 |
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Genomic detectives crack the case of the missing heritability
(Medical Xpress)—Despite years of research, the genetic factors behind many human diseases and characteristics remain unknown. The inability to find the complete genetic causes of family traits such as ...
Genetics
Feb 22, 2013 |
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ASHG: 16 additional loci ID'd for coronary artery disease
(HealthDay)—Meta-analyses have identified an additional 16 loci with genome-wide significance for coronary artery disease (CAD), according to research presented at the annual meeting of the American Society ...
Genetics
Nov 09, 2012 |
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Genes, depression and life satisfaction
(Medical Xpress)—Vulnerability to major depression is linked with how satisfied we are with our lives. This association is largely due to genes.
Psychology & Psychiatry
Oct 25, 2012 |
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Comparing family history and genetic tests for predicting complex disease risk
In a new theoretical study, 23andMe, the personal genetics company, developed a mathematical model which shows that family history and genetic tests offer different strengths. The study results suggest that both family history ...
Genetics
Oct 15, 2012 |
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For some women, genes may influence pressure to be thin
Genetics may make some women more vulnerable to the pressure of being thin, a study published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders has found. From size-zero models to airbrushed film stars, thinness is portra ...
Psychology & Psychiatry
Oct 03, 2012 |
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Heritability of avoidant and dependent personality disorder traits
(Medical Xpress)—A new twin study from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health shows that the heritability of avoidant and dependent personality disorder traits might be higher than previously reported. ...
Psychology & Psychiatry
Sep 24, 2012 |
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Why resist insulin? Finding genes associated with insulin resistance
(Medical Xpress) -- Researchers have uncovered six genetic regions that appear to affect resistance to the effects of insulin, which is important in many cases of type 2 diabetes. Previously, only two regions ...
Diabetes
Jun 11, 2012 |
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Longer sleep times may counteract genetic factors related to weight gain
Toss out another old wives' tale: Sleeping too much does not make you fat. Quite the opposite, according to a new study examining sleep and body mass index (BMI) in twins, which found that sleeping more than nine hours a ...
Health
May 01, 2012 |
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Cognitive problems common among non-demented elderly
Both subjective and objective cognitive impairment are highly common among non-demented elderly Swedes, with an overall prevalence of 39 percent and 25 percent respectively, according to a nationwide twin study by researchers ...
Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes
Feb 06, 2012 |
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Twin study reveals epigenetic alterations of psychiatric disorders
In the first study to systematically investigate genome-wide epigenetic differences in a large number of psychosis discordant twin-pairs, research at the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP) at King's College London provides further ...
Genetics
Sep 21, 2011 |
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Genes play greater role in heart attacks than stroke: study
People are significantly more likely to inherit a predisposition to heart attack than to stroke, according to research reported in Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics, an American Heart Association journal.
Cardiology
Jul 26, 2011 |
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Balance tips toward environment as heritability ebbs in autism?
The largest and most rigorous twin study of its kind to date has found that shared environment influences susceptibility to autism more than previously thought.
Psychology & Psychiatry
Jul 04, 2011 |
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Heritability
Heritability is the proportion of phenotypic variation in a population that is due to genetic variation between individuals. Phenotypic variation among individuals may be due to genetic, environmental factors, and/or random chance. Heritability analyzes the relative contributions of differences in genetic and non-genetic factors to the total phenotypic variance in a population. It is measured by estimating the relative contributions of genetic and non-genetic differences to the total phenotypic variation in a population. Heritability is an important concept in quantitative genetics, particularly in selective breeding and behaviour genetics (for instance twin studies), but is less widely used in population genetics.
Heritability measures the fraction of phenotype variability that can be attributed to genetic variation. This is not the same as saying that this fraction of an individual phenotype is caused by genetics. In addition, heritability can change without any genetic change occurring. For example, if both genes and environment have the potential to influence intelligence, but if a given sample of individuals shows very little genetic variation and a great deal of environmental variation, then the contribution of genetic variability to phenotype variability in that sample will be lower than if the sample showed greater genetic variability. Because of this it can be seen that heritability is specific to a particular population in a particular environment.
The extent of dependence of phenotype on environment can also be function of the genes involved. Genes may canalize a phenotype, making its expression almost inevitable in all occurring environments. Individuals with the same genotype can exhibit different phenotypes through a mechanism called phenotypic plasticity, which makes heritability difficult to measure in some cases. Recent insights in molecular biology have identified changes in transcriptional activity of individual genes associated with environmental changes. However, there are a large number of genes whose transcription is not affected by the environment.
For more information about Heritability, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
