Vegetable oils continue to be one of the world's most important plant commodities, with current annual production in the region of 65 million metric tons. About two-thirds of this production is used in food products, and the rest is used in a variety of industrial applications (Ohlrogge, 1994). Vegetable oils constituted more than 99% of total U.S. consumption of edible fats and oils in 1993 (USDA, 19941.Like protein, carbohydrate and water, fats and oils are a major nutrient. Yet, over the years, they have become the number one concern for consumers. As a result, food technologists and plant breeders are forced to do something about them. A common goal has been to modify their fatty acid composition. However, there is a fundamental difference in approaches used between food technologists and plant breeders. While food technologists are busy searching new processing methods to enhance quality of the existing fats and oils, plant breeders are working hard to produce new vegetable oils with altered fatty acid composition.Hydrogenation, interesterification, and fractionation are among the tools used by food technologists to give fats and oils desired functionality for specific products (Haumann, 1994. The tools used by plant breeders have been selections, crossing, and mutation. However, the current trend is to combine these conventional methods with the newly emerging biotechnological approach. In this article, we will 6rst discuss the need for fatty acid modification, then review conventional breeding, including mutagenesis; focus on how biotechnological approaches can be used to facilitate plant breeding; and point out trends in oilseed breeding.