Concepts, estimation and interpretation of SNP-based heritability

J Yang; J Zeng; ME Goddard; NR Wray; PM Visscher

Journal article

Concepts, estimation and interpretation of SNP-based heritability

J Yang, J Zeng, ME Goddard, NR Wray, PM Visscher

Nature Genetics | Published : 2017

DOI: 10.1038/ng.3941

Abstract

Narrow-sense heritability (h 2) is an important genetic parameter that quantifies the proportion of phenotypic variance in a trait attributable to the additive genetic variation generated by all causal variants. Estimation of h 2 previously relied on closely related individuals, but recent developments allow estimation of the variance explained by all SNPs used in a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in conventionally unrelated individuals, that is, the SNP-based heritability (). In this Perspective, we discuss recently developed methods to estimate for a complex trait (and genetic correlation between traits) using individual-level or summary GWAS data. We discuss issues that could influen..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

Mike Goddard Author

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THE ROLE OF X-CHROMOSOME INACTIVATION IN QUANTITATIVE TRAIT VARIATION

This project aims to develop methods and software that can be applied to genetic and genomic studies in animal breeding, wildlife protection..

Grants

Awarded by Sylvia and Charles Viertel Charitable Foundation

Funding Acknowledgements

We thank A. Price for his constructive and helpful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. This research was supported by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (1078901, 1078037 and 1113400), the Australian Research Council (DP160101343), the US National Institutes of Health (GM099568 and MH100141-01), and the Sylvia & Charles Viertel Charitable Foundation (Senior Medical Research Fellowship). This research has been conducted using data from dbGaP (accessions phs000090.v3.p1 and phs000091.v2.p1), the UK10K Project and the UK Biobank Resource (application number 12514). A full list of acknowledgments to these data sets can be found in the Supplementary Note.