Project Genesis was a theoretical process to terraform dead planets by means of a genetic explosion that would reduce the surface of a planet to its elementary particles.

Under the direction of Dr. Carol Marcus this theory was successfully run on the nearby planet Regula. The device was subsequently stolen by Khan Noonien Singh in his revenge plans against Admiral James T. Kirk and was detonated inside the Mutara Nebula, thus creating the unstable Genesis planet.

The project was deemed a failure when the planet began to break down due to the usage of unstable protomatter in the original matrix.