The Omnigenic Model, first proposed by Evan A. Boyle, Yang I. Li, and Jonathan K. Pritchard, describes a hypothesis regarding the heritability of complex traits.
For example, GWAS have identified genetic variants that are responsible for 10% of the heritability of Type II diabetes.
[7] Under the Omnigenic Model, these detected variants may not be as important as other peripheral gene effects.
[12] The initial evidence proposed in support for the Omnigenic Model comes from two main components: the widespread effect of traits across the genome and the inability of cell-specific disease pathways to fully explain heritability.
Since this initial evidence, support for the Omnigenic Model has grown, especially with the documentation of trans-regulatory elements on gene expression.
[8] Trans-regulatory elements are DNA sequences that modify and regulate the expression of many distant genes.
The Omnigenic Model challenges modern efforts within evolutionary biology to identify traits that are responsible for adaption.