Schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder and autism have all had recent attention for being “genetically caused.” In scientific research, being genetically caused usually corresponds to having a high estimated heritability.
But what exactly is heritability? What does it mean when researchers and journalists label traits like these as genetic?
The nature-nurture debate historically referred to the disagreement between whether traits are caused by ones biology (nature) or the environment (nurture).
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These days, disagreements centre on how much nature or nurture contributes. Nature – now usually referring to genes – may be more of a cause of schizophrenia, even though both genes and environment contribute.
Read the full, original story: Explainer: what is heritability?
