The science of the etiology and treatment of alcohol has made notable progress in recent years. Since the early 1970s there have been growing in-roads made concerning the relevance of hereditary factors in alcoholism. This has led to the presentation of various innovative hypotheses in this field. In conjunction with this there has been much discussion and study of the "alcoholic personality" and its possible characteristics. These may be considered the "longitudinal aspects" linked to the transmission of alcoholism.