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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 17, 2025

Using Cholesky Decomposition to Explore Individual Differences in Longitudinal Relations between Reading Skills
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Correlations between complex human phenotypes vary by genetic background, gender, and environment.

Michael Elgart1, Matthew O Goodman1, Carmen Isasi2

  • 1Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.

Cell Reports. Medicine
|December 13, 2022
PubMed
Summary

We developed a faster method (HEc) to estimate genetic and environmental correlations between complex traits. Findings show these correlations differ significantly across ancestries and genders, highlighting the impact of genetics and environment.

Keywords:
Haseman-Elston regressionHispanic Community Health Study/Study of LatinosTrans-Omics in Precision Medicineadmixed populationgenetic architecturegenetic backgroundgenetic correlationheritabilityhousehold correlationmulti-ethnic

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Area of Science:

  • Quantitative genetics
  • Statistical genomics
  • Precision medicine

Background:

  • Complex phenotypes arise from interactions between genetic and environmental factors.
  • Understanding these interactions is crucial for personalized medicine.
  • Existing methods for estimating genetic and environmental correlations can be computationally intensive.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a computationally efficient and precise estimator for genetic and environmental correlation coefficients.
  • To investigate the influence of ancestry and gender on genetic and environmental correlations.
  • To introduce and quantify fractional genetic correlation and domain-specific correlations.

Main Methods:

  • Developed a closed-form Haseman-Elston estimator (HEc) for genetic and environmental correlations.
  • Applied HEc to analyze over 7,000 phenotype pairs in subgroups from the Trans-Omics in Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program.
  • Introduced and calculated fractional genetic correlation to quantify genetic contributions to phenotypic correlation.

Main Results:

  • The HEc estimator is as precise as GCTA but approximately 20 times faster.
  • Substantial differences in heritabilities and genetic correlations were observed across self-reported Black, Hispanic/Latino, and White backgrounds.
  • Significant variations in genetic and environmental correlations were also found between genders.
  • Enrichment of correlations between phenotypic domains was quantified.

Conclusions:

  • Complex human phenotype correlations are significantly influenced by genetic background, gender, and environment.
  • The HEc method provides a rapid and accurate tool for large-scale genetic correlation studies.
  • Observed differences underscore the importance of considering demographic factors in genetic analyses.