Using Genome Wide Estimates of Heritability to Examine the Relevance of Gene-Environment Interplay

We use genome-wide data from the third generation respondents of the Framing-ham Heart Study to estimate heritability in body mass index using different quantities of the measured genotype. Heritability decreases rapidly when SNPs implicated by a genome-wide association study are removed but shows essentially no decline when SNPs implicated by a gene-environment interaction in a second genome-wide analysis are removed. This second result is highlighted by our additional finding that the SNPs which explain heritability amongst a subsample defined by higher educational attainment explain no heritability of the heritability in the lower education group, and vice-versa. Finally, we do find consistent heritability estimates when we compare family-based estimates versus those based on measured genotype.