What is genetic modification?

Genetic modification is when you take a beneficial gene, a bit of DNA, from one species and add it to the DNA sequence of another species. The genetically modified subject will use the gene and benefit from it, for example to grow better fruit or be resistant to disease, or to produce insulin.

The above process has been done for thousands of years by a bacteria called Agrobacterium which causes a plant root disease called "Agrobacterium Root Gall" The disease causing genes can be replaced with other sequences of DNA which the bacteria then inserts into the plant for them. There are many different ways, but this is the most common.

Genetic manipulation is also done in medicine and agriculture. In agriculture, it is most commonly done to create crops that are resistant to synthetic herbicides or to create crops that produce a substance that kills insects when they eat the plant.