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Relatedness disequilibrium regression estimates heritability without environmental bias
Alexander I Young1,2,3, Michael L Frigge4, Daniel F Gudbjartsson4,5
1deCODE genetics/Amgen Inc., Reykjavik, Iceland. alexander.young@bdi.ox.ac.uk.
Nature Genetics
|August 15, 2018
Summary
A new method called relatedness disequilibrium regression (RDR) estimates heritability more accurately by reducing environmental bias. This genetic inheritance study found some heritability estimates may be inflated by environmental factors.
Area of Science:
- Genetics
- Quantitative Genetics
- Behavioral Genetics
Background:
- Heritability quantifies genetic contribution to trait variation, crucial for nature-nurture research.
- Current heritability estimates may be biased by environmental influences.
- Accurate heritability measurement is vital for understanding genetic and environmental contributions to human traits.
Purpose of the Study:
- Introduce a novel method, relatedness disequilibrium regression (RDR), for more accurate heritability estimation.
- To address and mitigate environmental biases in heritability measurements.
- To provide reliable heritability estimates for various human traits.
Main Methods:
- Developed and applied relatedness disequilibrium regression (RDR).
- Exploited variation in relatedness due to random Mendelian segregation to minimize environmental bias.
- Analyzed a large dataset of 54,888 Icelanders with genotyped parents.
Main Results:
- Estimated heritability for 14 traits using RDR.
- Height heritability estimated at 55.4% (s.e. 4.4%).
- Educational attainment heritability estimated at 17.0% (s.e. 9.4%).
Conclusions:
- RDR offers a robust method to estimate heritability, overcoming environmental biases.
- Findings suggest previous heritability estimates might be inflated due to environmental factors.
- This study provides more accurate genetic inheritance insights for complex traits.
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