No , the term GMO actually refers to any number of ways an organism can be altered at the genetic level . This includes transgenic organisms glow in the dark bunnies , or E . coli that produce most of the world ' s insulin stocks , or organisms that have been slowly changed through generations of selective breeding . What ' s the difference between a bacteria that ' s bred for resistance through selective breeding and one that ' s given resistance through an artificial viral factor ? Only the method of change , they are both GMO . Borlaug practiced genetic engineering , he just did it the long way rather than the short way . <| sep |> I didn ' t make the claim , it was a pundit on one of the financial shows . I remember him specifically using the word ethical too .