Biotechnology is the use of microorganisms, plants, animals, their parts, or their products to make or improve materials such as food, medicine and chemicals that are useful to man. Yeast for instance is a microorganism that was first used to make beer and wine for as early as 6000 BC. Cheese made using bacteria has been produced for hundreds of years. Other products of biotechnology are vinegar, soy sauce, patis (fish sauce), pandesal, and nata de coco.

Modern biotechnology, on the other hand, makes use of some living organisms to perform a desirable function or to make a useful product in a predictable and controllable way. The process of modern biotechnology involves the transfer of genetic material from one organism (source) to another (recipient) in order to transmit the desired trait that the source has but the recipient originally does not have. An example of this sophisticated molecular technique is recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (rDNA) technology.

To differentiate modern biotechnology from classical biotechnology, the former is the application of

1. in vitro nucleic acid techniques, including rDNA and direct injection of nucleic acid into cells or organelles, or
2. fusion of cells beyond the taxonomic family,

that overcomes natural physiological reproductive or recombination barriers.