Is Gene Editing the Same Thing as GMO?

Jared Decker (University of Missouri): GMO stands for a genetically modified organism. When we were creating GMOs we were using a very rudimentary, imprecise technology to take a sequence of DNA and insert it into a plant or an animal. Because of the imprecision of this technology, there were many concerns about independent, unintended consequences of using that approach. Now with gene editing, we can make these changes much more precisely with much fewer unintended consequences. In fact, early evidence shows there have been no unintended consequences. So, the precision of these new technologies used in gene editing allows us to have more confidence that we’re making the changes that we want to make and avoiding any of these unintended consequences.