Any technique which uses living things to make or modify a product, to improve plants and animals, or to develop microorganisms for specific uses falls under the general category of "biotechnology". Tools of biotechnology can be used to make products for agricultural, industrial, medical and environmental applications.

Biotechnology holds a great deal of promise in the fields of food production, agriculture, medicine and environmental management. Food production - this is an area in which biotechnology plays a significant role in the production of ingredients, vitamins, starter cultures and enzymes for food processing. Agriculture - fruits and vegetables can be improved in appearance, taste, nutrient content, storage life, resistance to certain pests and even stability under unfavorable climatic conditions. Medicine - some types of Insulin are examples of biotechnology products. Biotechnology also offers new methods of producing critical vaccines that cost cheaper. Environmental management - biotechnology offers new opportunities for the protection of the environment. For example, genetically modified bacteria may one day be used to convert organic wastes to useful products or to clean up oil spills.

Genetic modification is a process whereby a gene for a desired trait or characteristic is inserted into a plant instead of acquiring it through the natural process of pollination. The inserted gene may come from another unrelated plant or from a different species.

Not exactly. Genetic modification is just one of the many techniques of biotechnology. There are two broad categories of biotechnology, traditional and modern. Examples of traditional biotechnology processes are: fermentation, production of biofertilizers and biocontrol agents, cell and tissue culture, biomass technology, microbial applications. On the other hand, modern biotechnology involves the recombinant biotechnology or genetic engineering such as genomics, bioinformatics, transformation, marker-assisted breeding, diagnostics and vaccine technology.

Two primary methods currently exist for introducing transgenes into plant genomes. The first involves a device called "gene gun". The DNA to be introduced into the plant cells is coated onto tiny particles. These particles are then physically shot onto plant cells. Some of the DNA comes off and is incorporated into the DNA of the recipient plant. The second method uses a bacterium to introduce the gene(s) of interest into the plant DNA. The cells then are screened to identify which will successfully express the new trait. When crops reach the field stage, the seeds are sown in the field and grown the same way as any other crop. These plants just have the new, desired trait.

Traditional plant breeding techniques allow plants to exchange genes to produce offsprings with desired traits but takes a very long and tedious process before achieving and sometimes, not achieving the desired result. Exchange of genes is also limited between the same or very closely related species. GM technology enables plant breeders to combine in one plant desirable traits, not only genes of closely related species, but also genes from a wide range of living sources with better accuracy and speed.

In 1994, Calgene's delayed-ripening tomato (Flavr-SavrTM) became the first genetically modified food crop to be produced and consumed in an industrialized country. Since then, several countries have contributed to more than a 20-fold increase in the global area planted with transgenic crops. Countries that commercially grow GM crops are Argentina, Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, China, France, Germany, Mexico, Romania, Spain, South Africa, Ukraine, and the USA.

In countries where there is often not enough food to go around and where food prices directly affect the incomes of majority of the population, the potential benefits of GM crops cannot be ignored. Studies in developed countries have shown that farmers apply fewer pesticides with lower production costs and less time in the fields for some GM crops. In addition, nutritionally enhanced foods could play a key role in helping to alleviate malnutrition in developing countries.

Like any other new emerging technologies, there are potential risks. These are: the danger of unintentionally introducing allergens and other antinutrition factors in foods; the likelihood of transgenes escaping from cultivated crops into wild relatives; the possibility that transgenic crops carrying antibiotic genes may generate antibiotic resistance in livestock or humans; the potential for pests to evolve resistance to the toxins produced by GM crops; and the risk of these toxins affecting nontarget pests.