Alcoholism: Is It All in the Genes? We know alcoholism runs in
families — children with alcoholic parents have quadruple the
risk of developing a drinking problem later in life than those
without — but is the link genetic or the result of other
influences? According to a Feb. 8 Wall Street Journal article
outlining the evidence for “alcoholism genes,” it is probably
both. Researchers from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics
of Alcoholism, a 22-year National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and
Alcoholism (NIAAA) investigation into the relationship between
DNA and alcoholism, have put together compelling evidence from
family studies indicating the problem has roots in nature versus
nurture. For instance, boys born to alcoholic fathers are nine
times more likely to develop a drinking problem. Children with
an alcoholic birth parent who are adopted in infancy have almost
the same risk for alcoholism as they would have had they been
raised by that parent. Studies in specific ethnic groups also
support a genetic lin