Older readers may recall that Popeye the Sailor Man used to warble "I yam what I yam, an' that's all that I yam" as an excuse for his general good-for-nothingness. The same words were heard again more recently when rapper Big B used the same reasoning for being a Hooligan. Yet the view that what we are is 'all in the genes' was highly unfashionable until the late 1990s. Before that, it was widely believed that most of our characteristics were the result of 'nurture' rather that 'nature'.

Lately though, the tide has turned back to the Popeye hypothesis: an acceptance that genes really are the building blocks of personality. In recent years, there have been a flood of reports that everything from alcoholism to persistent lateness might be as much a part of our genetic make-up as the color of our eyes.

Of course, environment still plays a major role in shaping us, as Professor John Mattick at the University of Queensland, points out. "As, for instance, a genetic predisposition to diabetes can be corrected by intervention in the form of insulin, so can other genetically determined traits be subject to external influences."

"Although physiological variations from our gene make-up is the dominant factor affecting our health and personalities, all our choices are molded by our environment."

So, although it may be comforting to many of us that everything we do or say, and not merely the way we look, must somehow be coded into our genetic blueprint, ultimately, we can't blame others for our problems or avoid taking responsibility for our own actions.

Here is a semi-humorous look at some of the characteristics and personality traits that it has been claimed genetics will fit:

According to American scientists, forgetfulness is genetically inherited.  The only problem seems to be remembering from whom.

Don't get annoyed when your man ogles another woman's breasts, it's all in his genes.  Men are designed to assess the best mating partner, and firm, healthy breasts are apparently one indication.

Certain types of cancer run in families, as members inherit genes that give them a higher chance of developing the disease. It is possible to get counseling to help work out what your chances of developing cancer are and what measures you can take to lower that risk. The mutation of a particular gene has been discovered to play a vital role in the formation of at least half of all cancers.

Okay, I'm just kidding, but only just.  Blue denim genes actually exist.  They were developed by transferring the genetic material from blue flowers to cotton plants, which would dispense with the need to dye the denim blue.

Do your kids fiddle, fidget and find it impossible to concentrate?  Blame their goldfish attention spans on a wonky gene, of course!

Researchers have discovered that the human body is genetically primed to eat roughly an extra 200 calories (850 kilojoules) a day in winter.  This means that seasonal weight gain is genetically laid down and not because you eat four chocolate cakes a day.

University of Michigan scientists say the reason people hate broccoli, cabbage and Brussels sprouts is not because they are nearly always overcooked and taste bad, but that we have genetically inherited the dislike...but don't tell the kids!

Doctors will soon be able to cure hemophilia by injecting the missing blood-clotting gene into patients, according to Dr Richard Samulski, of the Gene Therapy Center at the University of North Carolina in the USA.

The gene for intelligence was discovered by Professor Robert Plomin of the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Research Center in London.  Plomin's team was also responsible for discovering a gene for language ability in young children.

Model Kate Moss has blamed her chronic lack of punctuality on her genes, saying airily, "It's in my blood. My mom was always late".

Scientists have found that there's a gene for baldness, which means that the cure for it can't be far away.  The gene for the rare form of hair loss, alopecia, is expected to give some leads into combating your common-or-garden variety receding hairline.

Quite a few evergreen Hollywood actresses (including Sophia Loren, Raquel Welch and Jacqueline Bisset) have credited their enduring good looks to their genes first and foremost, and their hard work at looking after themselves second.  Oddly enough, their over-priced plastic surgeons don't rate a mention!

There's a gene in mice that influences maternal instincts.  Cambridge University researchers showed that mice with a defective version of the Mest gene neglected their babies and failed to clean them.  They were poor nest builders and were sluggish about returning straying offspring to safety.  This same gene exists in humans.

Bad luck is not your fault - it runs in families and therefore is in your genes, according to psychiatrists at the University of Wales College of Medicine.

Obesity is not apparently due to lack of willpower, but to a defective gene, which prevents the body from responding to the hormone, leptin, which controls the appetite.

A gene for promiscuity has allegedly been discovered by Dr Dean Hamer at the National Cancer Institute in the US.  It dictates whether you have a high libido, and is the same gene that controls depression.  So, according to Dr Hamer, if you're chronically miserable, you are at least likely to have more sex than folk who are happy.

Fretting and moaning about nothing is genetic, according to the journal Science.  And people who are calm and laid-back have a long version of the SLC6A₄ gene on chromosome 17q12 rather than a short one.

There's a gene for risk taking, which actor Hugh Grant may well have been able to blame for that embarrassing incident with a prostitute in a parked car in Los Angeles.

This gene was first isolated in tiny worms called nematodes.  Scientists at the University of California discovered that some worms hung out together, while others were loners, and that the difference was genetic.  So, if you're a worm and you've got no mates, take heart.  It's not your fault.

Genetic engineering has the potential to reset the primeval genetic coding that causes cells to age.

There is a gene for divorce.  Apparently, if you have it, you are twice as likely to go through a marital breakdown.

The propensity for acting violently toward others is not because you're incorrigible, amoral and reckless. Violent people have DNA mutations which make them more likely to be nasty.

Scientists have transplanted genes from the notoriously monogamous prairie dog into mice.  Can faithful men be far away?

What some have called the 'feminine intuition' gene lies on the X-chromosome.

Want to leave a bit of yourself for posterity? Why not an ornament containing your DNA? From a scraping of mouth cells, Third Millenium Research of Seattle in the USA, will return your DNA in a tasteful paperweight for about $55.

Research at the University of Helsinki has revealed that certain genes can make you more susceptible to nightmares.