Genetic engineering is the changing of an organism's DNA, genetic material to eliminate unwanted traits or to produce desirable traits. The earliest form of genetic engineering dates back to the scientist Gregor Mendel who did experiments with peas. He bred only the peas with the most desirable traits in order to achieve a healthier and stronger pea (McCuen 8). This method, called selective breeding, is still used today with plants and animals in order to increase food production. Corn plants are selectively bred in order to produce a larger tastier kernel. Another type of genetic engineering called hybridization or crossbreeding involves breeding animals of different species in order to obtain the most desirable traits of both. Male donkeys are crossbred with female horses to produce mules, which are good work animals (Levine 1).
In 1938, Hans Speman proposed cloning a mammal by transplanting an adult cell's nucleus into a fertilized egg. This process is called nuclear transfer and was initially used to clone a frog in 1952 (Sinha 59). Using this process, nuclear DNA from the body cell of a donor frog was injected into the egg cell of a recipient frog whose nuclear genetic material was