Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Polygenic Traits01:18

Polygenic Traits

66.0K
When more than one gene is responsible for a given phenotype, the trait is considered polygenic. Human height is a polygenic trait. Studies have uncovered hundreds of loci that influence height, and there are believed to be many more. Due to the high number of genes involved, as well as environmental and nutritional factors, height varies significantly within a given population. The distribution of height forms a bell-shaped curve, with relatively few individuals in the population at the...
66.0K
Nature and Nurture01:10

Nature and Nurture

20.6K
Many human characteristics, like height, are shaped by both nature—in other words, by our genes—and by nurture, or our environment. For example, chronic stress during childhood inhibits the production of growth hormones and consequently reduces bone growth and height. Scientists estimate that 70-90% of variation in height is due to genetic differences among individuals, and 10-30% of variation in height is due to differences in the environments that individuals experience,...
20.6K
Heritability01:06

Heritability

239
Heritability is a statistical concept that measures the degree to which genetic differences among individuals contribute to trait variations within a population. It is a fundamental idea in genetics, often prone to misinterpretation. Heritability is expressed as a percentage, reflecting the proportion of variation in a specific trait across a population that can be linked to genetic differences. However, it's important to understand that heritability does not determine how "genetic"...
239
Applications of Normal Distribution01:22

Applications of Normal Distribution

5.2K
The normal distribution is a useful statistical tool. One of its practical applications is determining the door height after considering the normal distribution of heights of persons, such that many can pass through it easily without striking their heads. The normal distribution can also determine the probability of a person having a height less than a specific height.
The heights of 15 to 18-year-old males from Chile from 1984 to 1985 followed a normal distribution. The mean height is 172.36...
5.2K
Variation: Normal Distribution, Range, and Standard Deviation02:32

Variation: Normal Distribution, Range, and Standard Deviation

22.3K
In the field of psychology, there are several ways to organize measurements of a trait, feature, or characteristic (i.e., variables). Qualitative data, such as ethnicity, can be tabulated into a frequency count to provide information about the proportion, as well as the variety of groups in a sample or population. On the other hand, researchers can perform a wider set of calculations on quantitative data. The mean, mode, and median, for instance, are central tendency measures to identify a...
22.3K
Inheritance01:25

Inheritance

432
Gregor Mendel's pioneering work on the principles of inheritance fundamentally transformed our understanding of how traits are transmitted from generation to generation. His experiments with pea plants laid the groundwork for the discovery of genes, discrete units within organisms that control heredity.
Each gene exists in pairs, and the combination of these genes from both parents forms an individual's genotype. This genotype is a blueprint of potential traits. Examples of genotype...
432

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Cross-trait clustering of sub-threshold sleep genetic signals identifies EGR2 as a conserved regulator of sleep.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

Functionally informed annotation influences pathway-specific polygenic risk and disease inference in Alzheimer's disease.

medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences·2026
Same author

Geometry of the proximal femur during growth and its contribution to childhood fractures in healthy children.

Journal of bone and mineral research : the official journal of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research·2026
Same author

Cell-specific variant-to-gene mapping identifies conserved neural and glial regulators of sleep.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

A meta-analysis of chromatin-associated loci provides insights into mechanistic interpretations of trait heritability.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2026
Same author

The genetics of obesity: aetiology, prevention and therapy.

Nature metabolism·2026

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 26, 2025

Experimental Manipulation of Body Size to Estimate Morphological Scaling Relationships in Drosophila
06:00

Experimental Manipulation of Body Size to Estimate Morphological Scaling Relationships in Drosophila

Published on: October 1, 2011

14.0K

Human height: a model common complex trait.

Mitchell Conery1,2,3, Struan F A Grant1,2,4,5,6

  • 1Division of Human Genetics, Center for Spatial and Functional Genomics, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

Annals of Human Biology
|June 21, 2023
PubMed
Summary

Human height genetics, while highly heritable and easy to measure, may be reaching limits in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). This suggests future research should focus on polygenic scores and variant-to-gene mapping for complex traits.

Keywords:
GWASGeneticsgenomicsheightpolygenic scores

More Related Videos

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
09:36

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study

Published on: February 2, 2017

27.2K
Author Spotlight: Advancements in 3D Optical Imaging for Comprehensive Body Composition Assessment in Modern Research
06:48

Author Spotlight: Advancements in 3D Optical Imaging for Comprehensive Body Composition Assessment in Modern Research

Published on: June 7, 2024

1.3K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 26, 2025

Experimental Manipulation of Body Size to Estimate Morphological Scaling Relationships in Drosophila
06:00

Experimental Manipulation of Body Size to Estimate Morphological Scaling Relationships in Drosophila

Published on: October 1, 2011

14.0K
Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
09:36

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study

Published on: February 2, 2017

27.2K
Author Spotlight: Advancements in 3D Optical Imaging for Comprehensive Body Composition Assessment in Modern Research
06:48

Author Spotlight: Advancements in 3D Optical Imaging for Comprehensive Body Composition Assessment in Modern Research

Published on: June 7, 2024

1.3K

Area of Science:

  • Human genetics
  • Complex phenotypes
  • Quantitative trait genetics

Background:

  • Human height is a complex phenotype influenced by both genetic and environmental factors.
  • Its ease of measurement makes height a common proxy for other complex traits, though generalizability requires careful consideration.
  • Understanding height genetics offers insights into broader complex trait inheritance patterns.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate height as a model for other complex phenotypes.
  • To review advancements in height genetics and their implications for complex traits.
  • To assess the suitability of current genetic study approaches for complex traits.

Main Methods:

  • Comprehensive literature search of PubMed and Google Scholar.
  • Focused on articles concerning height genetics and its comparability to other phenotypes.
  • Analysis of recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) findings.

Main Results:

  • Height exhibits high heritability and is easily measured, similar to many complex phenotypes.
  • Over 12,000 independent genetic signals for height have been identified via GWAS.
  • Common single nucleotide polymorphism heritability for height is nearing saturation in European-ancestry populations.

Conclusions:

  • The saturation of GWAS for height suggests potential limitations of the omnigenic model.
  • Future research may increasingly rely on polygenic scores and risk scores for complex traits.
  • There is a growing need for large-scale variant-to-gene mapping initiatives.