All the research I've read seems to indicate a genetic facdtor can be involved in alcoholism. You have to remember, though, that there is a difference between family history and genetics. Family history of alcoholism involves not only a genetic factor but also an alcoholic home enviroment and all the things that that entails. And when genetic factors are discussed, it usually concentrates on a predisposition toward alcoholism rather than a certainty that one will be an alcoholic if they have the right genes.
I know that SR hates it when I start talking probabilities, but the stuff I've read points to the fact that around 60% of alcoholics have a family history of the disease. That doesn't mean, however, that if you have a family history of the disease, you'll become an alcoholic, too. It just means that you'll be more predisposed to becoming one.
If you want to discuss genetics from a national/racial perspective, then we see that the French have the highest rate of alcoholism, while the Italians have a much lower rate. Native Americans are up there, but orientals aren't. (Some orientals seem to have a gene that causes an adverse physical reaction to alcohol). And of course the Irish, God bless 'em, are way up there. The list goes on.
So do genes predict whether or not you're predisposed to alcoholism? To a certain extent, yes. But bear in mind that while 60% of alcoholics have a family history/genetic tie to the disaese, 40% don't. I have no family history but turned out to be a screaming, hard core drunk.
But in the long run, who cares? Scientists, maybe. I'm more concerned with what I'm doing about the disease than how I came to have it. As to inheriting personality traits personality traits, I have no idea.