How would someone go about accomplishing this goal?
Is genetically modifying DNA the same as what breeders and horiculturalists have been doing for centuries?
Genetically modifying an organism is completely different. The DNA of an organism has a protection against being modified by another invading organism, so the introduction of another specie's genetic material must be forced and is a crude unpredictable process at the current time. There is no prediction of what such disruptions will cause in future generations of the organism that reproduces with compromised DNA.