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Heritability is the proportion of phenotypic variation in a population that is due to genetic variation between individuals. Phenotypic variation among individuals may be due to genetic, environmental factors, and/or random chance. Heritability analyzes the relative contributions of differences in genetic and non-genetic factors to the total phenotypic variance in a population. It is measured by estimating the relative contributions of genetic and non-genetic differences to the total phenotypic variation in a population. Heritability is an important concept in quantitative genetics, particularly in selective breeding and behaviour genetics (for instance twin studies), but is less widely used in population genetics.
Heritability measures the fraction of phenotype variability that can be attributed to genetic variation. This is not the same as saying that this fraction of an individual phenotype is caused by genetics. In addition, heritability can change without any genetic change occurring. For example, if both genes and environment have the potential to influence intelligence, but if a given sample of individuals shows very little genetic variation and a great deal of environmental variation, then the contribution of genetic variability to phenotype variability in that sample will be lower than if the sample showed greater genetic variability. Because of this it can be seen that heritability is specific to a particular population in a particular environment.
The extent of dependence of phenotype on environment can also be function of the genes involved. Genes may canalize a phenotype, making its expression almost inevitable in all occurring environments. Individuals with the same genotype can exhibit different phenotypes through a mechanism called phenotypic plasticity, which makes heritability difficult to measure in some cases. Recent insights in molecular biology have identified changes in transcriptional activity of individual genes associated with environmental changes. However, there are a large number of genes whose transcription is not affected by the environment.
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