Biotechnology is the application of biological knowledge to the development of products that can improve various aspects of life such as health, food supply, environment and general well-being.

Examples of biotechnology application in the field of medicine include diagnosis of genetic diseases, and production of medicinal pharmaceutical preparations such as vaccines.  Additionally, biotechnology can also be broadly applied in non-medical areas such as production of transgenic crops in the agriculture sector, and DNA fingerprinting for criminal investigation.

The Ninth Malaysian Plan states the Government's intention to make Malaysia a biotechnology hub. In its quest to be a major biotech player in the region, the government launched the National Biotechnology Policy (NBP) in April 2005. This saw the creation of the Malaysia Biotech Corporation (MBC), a dedicated government agency to develop the industry.

The transformation of the biotechnology sector will be led by the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Plantation, Industries and Commodities.