When we think about genes and inherited traits, we often think about the physical traits we inherit from our parents and ancestors. In every other aspect of our lives we are taught to look beyond physical appearance and see people for "who they are." Our personality, the way we act, react and interact in situations and with other people, makes us who we are more than any physical attribute. Can personality traits be inherited in a similar way to physical traits or are they based solely on the way we were raised and the experiences we have? The role of genetics in personality is at the center of the timeless debate between nature and nurture. When it comes to personality the question is: have our genes determined our destiny of who we will be long before we live our life, or is it our environment, the way we are raised and the experiences we go through, the most influence important? in becoming ourselves? Personality can be defined in many ways, depending on the scope in which it is analyzed and in the context of the situation, often with conflicting theories. According to the New York Academy of Sciences, psychology essentially defines personality as a person's overall profile, which can best be defined as dynamic, organized, and constant; it is a unique set of psychological character traits that relate to its unique nature; a pattern of thoughts, feelings, social adaptations, and behaviors consistently exhibited over time that strongly influence a person's expectations, self-perception, values, and attitudes. Although personality traits come in many forms, there is general consensus that most variations in human behavior can be classified according to a few basic dimensions. According to Emery and Rimoin's Principles and Practice of Medical Gene...... half of the article...... e. With the difficulty in finding candidate genes and the complexity of personality as a variable trait, a definitive answer has yet to be found. It seems that, given current advances in the study of the genome together with psychological analysis, our results are open to interpretation and have therefore been used by both parties to support their theories. While the answer may not be found soon, or even ever, there is general consensus that both have an influence, and therefore each should be recognized as playing a vital role in making us who we are. As with most debates about nature and nurture, the general consensus is that nature and nurture both play a role in shaping our personality, either independently or through the interaction of the two together. Our genes give us the general structure by which our environment shapes us.