Genetic engineering can enable the transport of genes between unrelated (transgenesis) or related (cisgenesis) organisms that would otherwise be unable to occur naturally, due to differences in anatomy or the correspondence between the DNA structures.

Biotechnology draws on the pure biological sciences ad in many instances s also dependent on knowledge and methods from outside the sphere of biology. Conversely, modern biological sciences (including even concepts such as molecular ecology) are intimately entwined and dependent on the methods developed through biotechnology and what is commonly thought of as the life sciences industry.