Advances in biotechnology are creating opportunities to increase food production in developing countries and reduce or eliminate the environmental problems associated with conventional farming practices. International agricultural research centres have used the techniques of modern molecular biology for more than a decade, mostly for tissue culture and the elimination of virus diseases in planting materials. As the centres expand their use of the new tools of biotechnology, the focus of their work is shifting. The centres are playing an even larger role in linking developing countries' scientists with colleagues in public and private sector institutions in the developed world. They are also using the new techniques to speed up the development of pest- and disease-resistant crop varieties. Whenever possible they are developing collaborative links with institutions that have the experience and infrastructure needed to carry out advanced molecular research, thus minimising the need for expensive, highly sophisticated in-house capabilities.