Biotechnology confusion: Differences among GMOs, gene editing and genetic engineering

Your body contains trillions of cells which make up the physical you. Each one of these cells has a blueprint that is completely unique to you, called your DNA.

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In order to read all that information on your DNA, we use machines that do “gene sequencing.” A gene is a distinct stretch of DNA that determines something about who you are. “Gene sequencing” is where we can go through and laboriously read every single character in your DNA and then store it in a big file.

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What if we could change genes in order to start changing your attributes? This is now possible using a technology called “gene editing.” This is where we are able to precisely “snip” sections of DNA from the strand and then replace them with our own snippets.

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All these methods fall under the envelope of “genetic engineering”. Consequently, gene editing is just another form of genetic engineering.

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Genetic engineering is the direct manipulation of an organism’s DNA using any number of methods. GMO is the genetic modification of organisms. It’s been around for a while and uses imprecise methods of genetic engineering. Gene editing is now a more precise method of genetic engineering which hopes to avoid any bad associations with GMO.

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: GMO vs Gene Editing vs Genetic Engineering