Table of Contents
Heritable Meaning and Definition
The term heritable has a few different meanings, all of which relate to something being passed down from one generation to the next. The most common definition of heritable is “able to be passed on to the next generation.” This can be a trait, such as eye color, or a characteristic, such as a tendency to get a certain disease. Another definition of heritable is “capable of being inherited.” This can refer to something that is physical, such as a gene, or something that is not physical, such as a skill.
What are in Heritable Traits?
Inheritable traits are the physical or behavioral characteristics that are passed from parents to their offspring. These traits can be either dominant or recessive, and they can be affected by environmental factors.
Narrow Sense Heritability and Broad Sense Heritability
Narrow sense heritability (h ̂) is the proportion of phenotypic variance in a trait that is due to genetic variance. It is calculated as h ̂ = V G / (V G + V E ), where V G is the genetic variance and V E is the environmental variance.
Broad sense heritability (h ̂) is the proportion of phenotypic variance in a trait that is due to all sources of genetic variance, including both additive and non-additive genetic variance. It is calculated as h ̂ = V A / (V A + V E ), where V A is the additive genetic variance and V E is the environmental variance.
Heritability of Intelligence
The heritability of intelligence is the proportion of variability in intelligence that is due to genetic variation. The heritability of intelligence has been estimated to be about .50, which means that about 50% of the variability in intelligence is due to genetic variation. The heritability of intelligence may be higher in some populations than in others.
What is Missing Heritability?
Missing heritability is a term used in genetics to describe the proportion of variation in a trait that is due to genetic factors. The term is used because, in many cases, the amount of variation that is due to genetic factors is not known. This can be due to the complexity of the trait, the limited number of genetic markers that have been studied, or the lack of a large enough sample size.
Missing heritability can also be due to the interactions between genes and the environment. For example, a trait may be largely determined by genetics when studied in a population of people who are all raised in the same environment, but the trait may be less determined by genetics when studied in a population of people who are raised in different environments.
