Heritability

Heritability is the proportion of variation in a population’s observed trait values associated with genetic differences among individuals in a specified environment. It describes variation within a population, not how much of an individual trait is genetic.

Phenotypic variance: The total statistical variation in observed trait values within a population. Heritability partitions this total variation into genetic and environmental components.
Response to selection: The change in a population’s mean trait value across generations under selection. The breeder’s equation links this response to narrow-sense heritability.
Environmental variance: Variation in trait values associated with environmental differences among individuals. It contributes to phenotypic variation but is not counted in the genetic numerator.
Missing heritability problem: The gap between heritability estimates from family studies and the variance explained by identified genetic variants. It exposes how much inherited variation remains unexplained by measured variants.
Genetic variance: Variation in trait values associated with genetic differences among individuals in a population. It supplies the numerator of broad-sense heritability and part of narrow-sense heritability.
Breeder’s equation: An equation predicting a trait’s response to selection from selection intensity, heritability, and variation. It shows how additive heritability helps predict evolutionary change.
Individual differences: Variation among people in characteristics such as height, behavior, or ability. Heritability describes the sources of variation, not the cause of one person’s trait.
Heritability of intelligence: The population-specific genetic contribution to variation in measured cognitive abilities. Its estimates vary with age, environment, and the populations examined.
Narrow-sense heritability: The fraction of phenotypic variance attributable to additive genetic variance. This form predicts resemblance between relatives and response to selection.
Genome-wide association study: A study testing genetic variants across the genome for association with a trait. Association results can identify variants without accounting for all heritable variation.

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