I evolved boolean regulatory networks in a computer simulation. I varied mutation, recombination, the size of the network, and the number of connections per node. I measured the performance of networks and the heritability and epistasis of genetic effects. Networks of intermediate connectivity performed best. The distinction between metabolic and quantitative genetic additivity explained some o...

Buzatto et al. [1] state that our recommendation to bring together previous, dichotomous game-theoretical approaches of modelling alternative strategies and a conditional strategy is unnecessary as fusion synthesis of this kind has already been carried out via the environmental threshold model. By presenting a verbal model in the conclusion and future direction section of our review paper, thes...

The definition of gene functions requires the phenotypic characterization of genetic variants. Currently, such functional analysis of Arabidopsis genes is based largely on laboratory-induced mutants that are selected in forward and reverse genetic studies. An alternative complementary source of genetic variation is available: the naturally occurring variation among accessions. The multigenic na...

Eigenvalues and eigenvectors of covariance matrices are important statistics for multivariate problems in many applications, including quantitative genetics. Estimates of these quantities are subject to different types of bias. This article reviews and extends the existing theory on these biases, considering a balanced one-way classification and restricted maximum-likelihood estimation. Biases ...

Academic study books are essential assets for disseminating knowledge about ADHD to future healthcare professionals. This study examined if they are balanced with regard to genetics. We selected and analyzed study books (N=43) used in (pre) master's programmes at 10 universities in the Netherlands. Because the mere behaviourally informed quantitative genetics give a much higher effect size of t...

New genomic resources and genetic tools of the past few years have advanced the nematode genus Caenorhabditis as a model for comparative biology. However, understanding of natural genetic variation at molecular and phenotypic levels remains rudimentary for most species in this genus, and for C. briggsae in particular. Here we characterize phenotypic variation in C. briggsae's sensitivity to the...

The scientific foundations of conservation policy are the subject of a recent tripolar debate, with systematists arguing for the primacy of phylogenetic rankings, ecologists arguing for protection at the level of populations or ecosystems, and evolutionary biologists urging more attention for the factors that enhance adaptation and biodiversity. In the field of conservation genetics, this contr...

Biology is now entering the new era of systems biology and exerting a growing influence on the future development of various disciplines within life sciences. In early classical and molecular periods of Biology, the theoretical frames of classical and molecular quantitative genetics have been systematically established, respectively. With the new advent of systems biology, there is occurring a ...

Mike Lynch and I recently attempted to summarize the current state of quantitative genetics (Lynch and Walsh, 1998; reviewed for this journal by Baston, 2000). Already, parts of our treatment are somewhat dated due to the explosive growth and refinement of methods for mapping loci underlying complex traits (QTLs, for quantitative trait loci). While such growth is bad news for textbook writers t...

John James authored two key papers on the theory of risk to relatives for binary disease traits and the relationship between parameters on the observed binary scale and an unobserved scale of liability (James Annals of Human Genetics, 1971; 35: 47; Reich, James and Morris Annals of Human Genetics, 1972; 36: 163). These two papers are John James' most cited papers (198 and 328 citations, Novembe...