These proceedings of a symposium designed to increase public awareness of current research in biology and biotechnology include: welcoming addresses by Chau Sian Eng and S. Radhakrishna; an opening address by Tay Eng Soon; five papers; four abstracts; summary; symposium program; and list of participants. The five papers are: (1) "The Role of Biotechnology in the Economy of Developing Countries" (John Smith); (2) "Gene Transfer and Somaclonal Variation for Plant Improvement" (R. D. Brock); (3) "Recent Advances in Biotechnology with Special Reference to Developing Countries" (K. F. Gregory); (4) "The Application of Recombinant DNA Techniques for the Study of Human Genetic Diseases" (J. Tam, K. Tan-Un, Y. Woo, and V. Lam); and (5) "Brem Bali Fermentation" (Indrawati Gandjar, Dewi Slamet, and Isworo Rukmik). The abstracts are "Current Research in Biotechnology in India" (H. Sharat Chandra); "Biotechnology of Interferons: The Transition from Natural to Recombinant Human Interferon" (Y. H. Tan); "Recombinant DNA Derived Human Interferon" (Budd Colby); and "New Sources of Single Pore Cell Protein" (Yasuju Minoda). The symposium demonstrated clearly that biotechnology encompasses a wide variety of techniques and applications; moreover, because developing countries are widely diverse, the role and application of biotechnology cannot be generalized across all nations. (JN)