How does genetic engineering fundamentally differ from traditional breeding methods?

Answer

It involves directly altering an organism's genetic material to introduce a new trait or enhance an existing one.

Genetic engineering, or genetic modification, is characterized by the precise and direct manipulation of an organism's deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). This process allows scientists to introduce a specific trait that may not have arisen naturally or to intentionally amplify an existing characteristic in a targeted way. This contrasts sharply with traditional breeding, which is a significantly slower, highly variable, and relatively random process that depends on crossing organisms and waiting for desired traits to appear through sexual reproduction over many generations. The fundamental distinction lies in the deliberateness and specificity of the intervention at the molecular level.

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