How Are Genetic Engineering & Artificial Insemination Related?

Genetic engineering and artificial insemination are vaguely related, but they are really two completely different things. In a nutshell, genetic engineering is the modification of the genes themselves in a living thing. Artificial insemination is just an assisted conception process.

Artificial Insemination

• Artificial insemination is used in people and animals. It is used for people in situations where the man has a low sperm count or weak sperm that are unable to make it to the egg alive. It is used on farm animals in order to make breeding an easier process; all a farmer needs is a stud's sperm, which is much cheaper and easier to transport than the stud itself.

Genetic Engineering

• Genetic engineering is the modification of the genes themselves. By altering the chemicals present in genes, scientists can add or subtract traits from the phenotypes of those genes. For example, scientists have genetically infused scorpion venom into cabbage, creating a plant that protects itself from insects.

Relationship

• The relationship between genetic engineering and artificial insemination is that both are deviations from what is "natural." How much they differ is a matter of degrees; genetic engineering can dramatically alter the product of conception, while artificial insemination only affects the conception itself. It is useful, however, to point out that genetically-engineered animals are sometimes artificially inseminated; but artificially inseminated animals are not usually genetically engineered.