"Genetic Engineering" is a 1983 song by English electronic band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), released as the first single from their fourth studio album Dazzle Ships.

"[2] Jim Reid in Record Mirror said, "Madly infectious hookline propels a song absolutely dripping with 'moderne' references.

"[3] In a later piece, God Is in the TV's Andy Page wrote that "Genetic Engineering" is "surely one of the most inventive and unusual singles ever to reach the [UK] Top 20".

[4] Critic Alexis Petridis observed the song's use of "scratchy, trebly guitar... alongside a children's Speak & Spell toy, a clattery rhythm track built out of handclaps and what sound like samples of a typewriter, and a particularly wracked-sounding McCluskey vocal: it was simultaneously thrilling and a little cacophonous.

"[5] Ned Raggett of AllMusic praised the "soaring", "enjoyable" single, asserting, "Why it wasn't a [US] hit remains a mystery.

"[6] Frontman Andy McCluskey has noted that the song is not an attack on genetic engineering, as many – including radio presenter Dave Lee Travis – have assumed.

Its title is a tribute to German krautrock band Neu!, who were an important influence on McCluskey and keyboardist Paul Humphreys prior to OMD.