The Genesis Device was a sophisticated technological innovation designed to rapidly terraform a lifeless planet, turning it into a Class M world, capable of supporting life.

The device, which was launched in the form of a torpedo, initiated a process of rapid terraforming, by which previously uninhabitable planets could be turned into class M worlds ready for colonization. This was accomplished by launching the Genesis Device into a lifeless planet. Upon impact, the device caused a massive explosion, reducing the entire area to the subatomic level. A preprogrammed matrix then reassembled these subatomic particles into the desired configuration, creating an atmosphere and environment habitable for Humans within a matter of hours, regardless of the test area's original composition.

Development and testing of the Genesis Device took place during a year-long period In 2285, on a space station orbiting Regula, a class D planetoid. Tests were carried out by Dr. Carol Marcus and her team in three stages, the first of which involved experiments conducted in a laboratory on the space station. In the second stage, the device was deployed within a lifeless underground cavern deep inside the Regula planetoid. The intention of the third stage of testing was to introduce the device to a lifeless space body, such as a moon or barren planet.

Unfortunately, if the device was detonated where life already existed, it could prove to be a very powerful doomsday weapon, destroying all life in favor of its new matrix.

Later in 2285, the device was stolen and a detonated by Khan Noonien Singh aboard the USS Reliant inside the Mutara Nebula. The resulting cataclysmic explosion reorganized the matter that constituted the nebula and the ship itself and formed that matter into a new planet, Genesis. However, the planet had a highly unstable core caused by David Marcus' inclusion of protomatter in its Genesis matrix; this resulted in its aging rapidly. The planet suffered from windstorms, fires, and earthquakes that became more and more violent, until it literally tore itself apart in an explosion.

As of 2401, a second Genesis Device was stored in Daystrom Station.