For thousands of years conventional breeding techniques have been used to improve crop plants. Emerging biotechnologies enable us to work at the whole plant as well as the organ, tissue, cell, protoplast, chromosome and gene levels in our efforts to modify plants. Biotechnology has loosely been defined to include a collection of techniques including gene mapping, recombinant DNA, Aqrobacteriummediated gene transfer of recombinant DNA, DNA and chromosome microinjection, microprojectile bombardment, protoplast fusion, selection for somaclonal variation, embryo rescue, anther culture and micropropagation. Plants with disease resistance, pest resistance, herbicide tolerance, drought tolerance and increased yield have been produced using one or a combination of these techniques. The application of several of these techniques to the improvement of peach will be discussed. Plant breeding in combination with biotechnology provide a bright future for the improvement of crop plants.