ReviewCurrent genomics2017
Assessing the Heritability of Complex Traits in Humans: Methodological Challenges and Opportunities.
Review in Current genomics, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 83 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
83 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Alzheimer disease is (sometimes) highly heritable: Drivers of variation in heritability estimates for binary traits, a systematic review.PLoS genetics · 2025Pooled it
- Meta-Analysis of 26 638 Individuals Identifies Two Genetic Loci Associated With Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction.Circulation. Genomic and precision medicine · 2020Pooled it
- Genetic analysis of imaging-derived phenotypes.Nature reviews. Genetics · 2026Review
- Changes in heritability and shared environmentality of educational attainment across twentieth-century Norway.Nature communications · 2026Article
- GWAS of extended prescription analgesic use identifies genetic loci in chronic pain.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Morphological and anatomical variations in subcortical anatomy between humans and chimpanzees associated with heritability patterns related to human behavioral traits.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Natural variation suggests candidate genes underlying Caenorhabditis elegans susceptibility to diverse toxicants.Toxicological sciences : an official journal of the Society of Toxicology · 2026Article
- Dissecting Alzheimer's disease heritability across populations.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Identifying the Genetic Basis of Fetal Loss in Cows and Heifers Through a Genome-Wide Association Analysis.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Cultural transmission of attitudes and behaviours from parents, peers and grandparents.PloS one · 2026Article
- Natural variation suggests candidate genes underlyingbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Cognitive, neuroimaging, and genetic insights on the interthalamic adhesion from a large cohort study of 591 subjects.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Heritability of sleep architecture based on home polysomnography.Journal of sleep research · 2025Article
- Genetic foundations of interindividual neurophysiological variability.Science advances · 2025Article
- Shared genetic architecture between eating disorders, mental health conditions, and cardiometabolic diseases: a comprehensive population-wide study across two countries.Nature communications · 2025Article
- BIGFAM - variance components analysis from relatives without genotype.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Genetic Foundations of Inter-individual Neurophysiological Variability.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Heritability and shared environmental effects of brain diseases in 12,040 extended families.NPJ dementia · 2025Article
- Hereditary Patterns and Genetic Associations in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): Neuropsychiatric Insights, Genetic Influences, and Treatment Perspectives.Current gene therapy · 2025Review
- Conceptual frameworks for the integration of genetic and social epidemiology in complex diseases.Global epidemiology · 2024Article
23 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The goal of this review article is to provide a conceptual based summary of how heritability estimates for complex traits such as obesity are determined and to explore the future directions of research in the heritability field. The target audience are researchers who use heritability data rather than those conducting heritability studies. The article provides an introduction to key concepts critical to understanding heritability studies including: i) definitions of heritability: broad sense versus narrow sense heritability; ii) how data for heritability studies are collected: twin, adoption, family and population-based studies; and iii) analytical techniques: path analysis, structural equations and mixed or regressive models of complex segregation analysis. For each section, a discussion of how the different definitions and methodologies influence heritability estimates is provided. The general limitations of heritability studies are discussed including the issue of "missing heritability" in which heritability estimates are significantly higher than the variance explained by known genetic variants. Potential causes of missing heritability include restriction of many genetic association studies to single nucleotide polymorphisms, gene by gene interactions, epigenetics, and gene by environment interactions. Innovative strategies of accounting for missing heritability including modeling techniques and improved software are discussed.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.