Final answer:
Genetic modification involves directly altering an organism's DNA, while artificial selection entails choosing organisms with desirable traits to breed over generations. The former employs precise scientific techniques allowing gene transfer across species, unlike the latter which uses natural reproductive processes.
Step-by-step explanation:
Genetic modification and artificial selection are both methods of altering the characteristics of organisms. However, they differ significantly in their processes and outcomes. Artificial selection, as seen in the development of various breeds of dogs from wolves, involves the breeding of organisms with desirable traits over many generations to produce offspring with those traits. It is a practice that humans have been employing for thousands of years, such as with the selective breeding of maize from teosinte.
On the other hand, genetic modification, or genetic engineering, involves directly altering the organism's DNA, via techniques such as CRISPR or transgenics. This can lead to new traits that are not found in the organism naturally or would be highly unlikely to develop through traditional breeding methods, such as a bacterial gene being inserted into a plant. In comparison to traditional breeding which shuffles a large number of genes, genetic engineering can target specific genes, offering more precise modifications. Moreover, genetic engineering can allow for the transfer of genes between unrelated species, which is a phenomenon that occurs naturally only rarely, through horizontal gene transfer.
Both methods result in genetic changes, but genetic engineering is more direct and precise. While traditional breeding has been used to enhance or develop desirable traits in species, genetic engineering revolutionizes the process by making it possible to insert specific genes from virtually any source into an organism, creating possibilities far beyond the scope of traditional methods.