 Despite an expanding number of techniques which employ engineered infectious agents to alter the genetic material of a second species, often involving genetically modified viruses, only a very small minority rely on gene editing events occurring in the environment.Furthermore, while there are a number of proposed applications which rely on the intentional dispersion of genetically modified infectious agents in the environment, only those where gene editing occurs are considered HEGAAs.Consequently, proposed applications of viral immuno-contraception, transmissible vaccines, and agricultural field transient expression systems  are not examples of HEGAA approaches, because none currently involve gene editing.