Genetics

Genetics is a branch of science, which involves the study of gene behavior in living organisms. This includes hereditary traits like eye color or unique medical conditions, as well as the intricacies of the biological and molecular structure of genes themselves and gene distribution.

By and large, scientists toy with genetics for only a few simple reasons: To create a race of super-soldiers, clone dinosuars, and to crossbreed human DNA with alien DNA in the hopes of producing some whacky half-human/half-Martian critter.

In film

 * Species: In the 1995 film Species, scientists at SETI received information from alien transmissions from outer space, which contained DNA code sequences of extraterrestrial life. A geneticist named Xavier Fitch spliced the alien DNA with human DNA and introduced it into a female ova in an effort to create a unique, yet docile being - one with additional traits that they had hoped to control. Of the one-hundred experiments conducted by Fitch, only one produced a viable crossbreed, which became known as Sil.