Chapter 2: The Techniques of Plant Genetic Modification and Genome Editing

Any new crop variety has been changed genetically, using the methods described in the previous chapter. However, the term genetically modified (GM) is a relatively new expression that describes a plant that contains a gene or genes that have been introduced artificially. GM plants can also be described as being transgenic or having been transformed, or as containing ‘foreign’ DNA (DNA from a different organism). The term genetically engineered (GE) can be used instead of GM.