Most human diseases are dichotomous and are measured on a binary scale (disease absent (0) or present (1)). Some of the observed phenotypic variation of disease can be attributed to genetic variation.

Sequencing nearly half a million genomes, researchers show that most additive genetic influences on height, lipids, and other complex traits are now directly measurable, while pinpointing ultra-rare ...

According to a news feature from the journal Nature, shortsightedness could be on the rise because children are spending less time outdoors than they used to. In short: myopia has undergone a marked ...

Heritability is a fraught topic. It comes up repeatedly on this weblog, but even long time readers can be confused as to its implications, as evidenced by the incorrect inferences made from their own ...

Regulatory genes -- genes that control how other genes are used -- are responsible for 69% of the heritability of dairy cattle traits such as milk production and fertility, according to a new study.

In the largest study of twins in schizophrenia research to date, researchers have estimated that as much as 79% of schizophrenia risk may be explained by genetic factors. The estimate indicates that ...

Several studies of narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) have assessed whether this condition is inherited and can be passed from one generation to another. For example, according to a study by ...

Kate Lynch receives funding from Macquarie University. Geneticists quantify the proportion that genes contribute using a heritability estimate, represented as h². When traits are claimed to be genetic ...

Molecular biologist Chao-Qiang Lai of the Jean Mayer U.S. Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University answers This question can be rephrased as: "How much ...