My conclusion - as GWAS genetic scans expand in N and #genes, the "missing heritability" in narrow sense heritability is disappearing relative to earlier studies. To me, it is a misnomer to call the remaining difference between broad and narrow sense heritability "missing" since by definition, broad sense heritability includes gene-environment and the gene-gene interactions that you discuss.
I think Nesse’s “maze in a tangled bank” captures a broader pattern: simple narratives collapse under complex architecture. The desire for a clean “gene for X” story also drives mythic explanations: a search for coherence in systems without simple causal chains. Your article shows that biological coherence emerges from whole networks, and prediction weakens if the system’s degrees of freedom exceed the story we try to impose on it.
Good exposition. I think about these same topics constantly, particularly as it pertains to neuroscience and psychiatry. It’s a big topic, and you’ve highlighted good contemporary resources.
"Missing heritability is substantial" - that depends on definitions.
ref 1 Wainschtein says ", we find that WGS captures approximately 88% of the pedigree-based narrow sense heritability"
I wrote an in depth piece addressing missing heritability: https://purescience.substack.com/p/missing-heritability-and-the-heritability?r=p3jgh
My conclusion - as GWAS genetic scans expand in N and #genes, the "missing heritability" in narrow sense heritability is disappearing relative to earlier studies. To me, it is a misnomer to call the remaining difference between broad and narrow sense heritability "missing" since by definition, broad sense heritability includes gene-environment and the gene-gene interactions that you discuss.
I think Nesse’s “maze in a tangled bank” captures a broader pattern: simple narratives collapse under complex architecture. The desire for a clean “gene for X” story also drives mythic explanations: a search for coherence in systems without simple causal chains. Your article shows that biological coherence emerges from whole networks, and prediction weakens if the system’s degrees of freedom exceed the story we try to impose on it.
Good exposition. I think about these same topics constantly, particularly as it pertains to neuroscience and psychiatry. It’s a big topic, and you’ve highlighted good contemporary resources.