Lucas Matthews (University of Virginia), Eric Turkheimer (University of Virginia)
Behavior genetics is advancing rapidly. Quantitative genetics evinced one provocative-yet-indisputable empirical fact: the more genetically similar, the more phenotypically similar. It became the First Law of Behavior Genetics: everything is heritable. The advent of fast and cheap DNA sequencing technology provides new approaches to old questions. Genome Wide Association Studies flag small genetic differences, as statistically associated with behavioral differences. Polygenic Risk Scores allow estimates of the quantity of genetic differences relevant to traits. Genome Complex Trait Analysis permits heritability estimates that are grounded in DNA differences. Thus, behavior genetics has returned to a new and poorly understood 'molecular heritability'.
