Traditional Uses of Biotechnology Biotechnology, in the form of traditional fermentation techniques, has been used for decades to make bread, cheese or beer. It has also been the basis of traditional animal and plant breeding techniques, such as hybridisation and the selection of plants and animals with specific characteristics to create, for example, crops which produce higher yields of grain. What is new about biotechnology today is that researchers can now take a single gene from a plant or animal cell and insert it in another plant or animal cell to give it a desired characteristic, such as plants that repel specific and targeted insect pests. An example of this is Bt cotton, which has been grown in Australia for several years. All living things are made of tiny 'building blocks' called cells.
Genes are the instructions that give organisms their characteristics.
Genetic Engineering Transferring single genes between differing plants and animals or removing a gene from its original position and placing it into a new position in the same organism, is called genetic engineering. Plants or animals which have a new gene inserted into them are called transgenic. Plants, animals or organisms which have had the sequence of their genes changed are called genetically modified plants or animals.