Complex traits, complex answers

Genetics of personalities: no simple answers for complex traits.

Identifying the genes that underlie phenotypic variation in natural populations, and assessing the consequences of polymorphisms at these loci for individual fitness are major objectives in evolutionary biology. Yet, with the exception of a few success stories, little progress has been made, and our understanding of the link between genotype and phenotype is still in its infancy. For example, a...

Finding Answers to Complex Questions

Mendelian and complex traits

There is considerable interest in understanding genetic determinants of critical illness to improve current risk stratification models, provide individualized therapies, and improve our current understanding of disease mechanisms. This review provides a broad overview of genetic nomenclature, different study designs, and problems unique to each of these study designs in critical illnesses. Well...

Complex Questions Rarely Have Simple Answers.

The subject of this monograph—sex differences in science and mathematics—is controversial. Although a topic of discussion for years, this issue was brought to public attention again in 2005 by the much-quoted comments of Lawrence Summers, then president of Harvard University, suggesting that at least part of the reason for the dearth of women at the top in math and science professions is a lack...

Data Augmentation and Complex Traits

The aim of livestock breeding plans is to improve an objective of selection by acting on several criteria of selection. The criteria of selection are composed by a subset of traits selected by its easiness of measure and its correlation with the objective of selection. In general, traits included on the criteria of selection are direct measures of the performance of candidates to selection. Fro...