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The maximum likelihood approach to the estimate of liability

The maximum likelihood approach to the estimate of liability The maximum likelihood approach to the estimate of liability BY R. THOMPSON ARC Unit of Statistics, University of Edinburgh, 21 Buccleuch Place, Edinburgh EH 8 9 LN, Scotland INTRODUCTION Falconer ( 1965) has applied methods developedin quantitative genetics for dealing with threshold characters to the problem of the inheritance of liabilities to diseases. I n particular he showed how data on the prevalence of a disease in the general population and among relatives of affected individuals can be used to measure the correlation between relatives for a disease. Falconer surmounts the difficultyof the all-or-nonecharacter of a disease by assuming an underlying continuous liability to a disease. This liability is supposed to consist of many small genetic and environmental effects and so is approximated by a normal distribution. There is a critical point, or threshold, on the liability scale above which individuals are affected and below which individuals are normal. Provided that the non-genetic causes of resemblance can be removed from the calculated correlation between relatives, an estimate of the heritability of liability to a disease can be found. Edwards (1969) pointed out that Falconer’s estimates of correlation are biased downwards by up to 10 %. He also gives http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Annals of Human Genetics Wiley

The maximum likelihood approach to the estimate of liability

THOMPSON, R.
Annals of Human Genetics , Volume 36 (2) – Nov 1, 1972
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References (24)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 1972 Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company
ISSN
0003-4800
eISSN
1469-1809
DOI
10.1111/j.1469-1809.1972.tb00771.x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The maximum likelihood approach to the estimate of liability BY R. THOMPSON ARC Unit of Statistics, University of Edinburgh, 21 Buccleuch Place, Edinburgh EH 8 9 LN, Scotland INTRODUCTION Falconer ( 1965) has applied methods developedin quantitative genetics for dealing with threshold characters to the problem of the inheritance of liabilities to diseases. I n particular he showed how data on the prevalence of a disease in the general population and among relatives of affected individuals can be used to measure the correlation between relatives for a disease. Falconer surmounts the difficultyof the all-or-nonecharacter of a disease by assuming an underlying continuous liability to a disease. This liability is supposed to consist of many small genetic and environmental effects and so is approximated by a normal distribution. There is a critical point, or threshold, on the liability scale above which individuals are affected and below which individuals are normal. Provided that the non-genetic causes of resemblance can be removed from the calculated correlation between relatives, an estimate of the heritability of liability to a disease can be found. Edwards (1969) pointed out that Falconer’s estimates of correlation are biased downwards by up to 10 %. He also gives

Journal

Annals of Human Genetics – Wiley

Published: Nov 1, 1972

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