Why Does Heritable Mean?

Heritability is a concept that summarizes how much of the variation in a trait is due to variation in genetic factors. Often, this term is used in reference to the resemblance between parents and their offspring.

What does it mean if something is heritable?

When a trait can be passed on through genetics we call it “heritable”, since it is inherited from your biological parents. Some heritable traits, like your blood type or sickle-cell disease, are entirely determined by genetics in this way.

How do you know something is heritable?

Traits are heritable only if the similarity arises from shared genotypes. There are two general methods for establishing the heritability of a trait as distinct from its familial occurrence. The first depends on phenotypic similarity between relatives.