The soybean is a legume and an oilseed as well. Its bushy plants grow annually, adapt to a wide range of soils and climates, and enrich soils with nitrogen. Its seeds are valued for their unique composition and versatile end uses as food, feed, and industrial materials. Currently, the soybean is an important source of edible oil and the most important source of proteins for animals. With advances in plant biotechnology, food science, and medical research, for the world's poor and the rich, the soybean has a great potential to become the most important source of plant protein for humans in the twenty-first century.