Recently, the sex-specific genetic architecture of 19 human quantitative traits in males and females, many of which are associated with common diseases, was investigated in a large multigenerational pedigree comprised of >500 members of the Hutterites, a founder population that practices a communal lifestyle41,42. Because of the remarkably uniform environment and lifestyle between individuals of both sexes in this community, the authors argued that sex-specific genetic architecture might be easier to detect. For example, smoking is prohibited and rare, meals are eaten and prepared in a communal kitchen, and large families desired43. Moreover, because all relative pairs in the extended pedigree are considered in the analysis, it was possible to estimate both additive and dominance variance components44.
