Cells and microorganisms are already so small, that I find it hard to imagine how someone can be looking through a microscope with tiny scissors or something cutting DNA or RNA from the nucleus of a cell. Also they are able to cut specific genes from those strands of DNA/RNA. How do they even read the genes. Also then how do they extract it out the cell and then insert it in another, or set it aside etc.
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I am not qualified to explain this, but I can give a Snapple-cap explanation. We got bacteria and viruses to do it for us.
Bacteria in general have the ability to edit their own genetic sequence, and they will often exchange genetic info with other bacteria they come across, even if they aren’t the same kind of bacteria! Others will straight up steal genetic info from other bacteria/viruses/cells they eat, incorporating that new info into their own genome.
Viruses do the reverse, in that they’re really good at injecting their code into living cells and making that cell create more virus copies. Most of the time, a virus knows how to do literally 2 things: Latch onto a cell, and inject a genetic payload into that cell.
So, we have bacteria that can cut, copy, and paste extremely specific parts of a genetic sequence, and we have viruses that can perfectly inject a genetic payload to edit the genome of a single cell. Scientists harness these abilities to do what no machine can do.
They can use the bacteria in the lab to analyze, edit, and fabricate a perfect genetic sequence, and then use viruses to actually put that new sequence into a living organism.
PLEASE remember that this is extremely oversimplified. I am no scientist, let alone a geneticist.
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