Agricultural genetics alters or selects genetically controlled traits of agriculturally relevant plant and animal species, or instills in these species beneficial genetic traits of other organisms. Techniques to analyze genetic material developed within the last twenty years allow a quicker and accurate identification and propagation of superior traits, speeding the overall process of genetic improvement.

Transgenic crops (also called genetically modified crops) contain genetic material from some source other than themselves (all crops have been somewhat genetically modified from their original wild state by domestication, selection and controlled breeding over long periods of time). The inserted gene sequence, called a transgene, may come from another related species, or from a completely different species, such as a bacterial cell.

A significant advance in agricultural genetics has been the harnessing of transgenic crops to express biopesticides (also known as biological pesticides). At the end of 1998, there were approximately...