In rice-based societies, the absence of β-carotene in rice grains manifests as a marked incidence of blindness and susceptibility to disease, leading to a marked incidence increased premature deaths of young children. , the weakest link in the chain. (“The Golden Rice Project”). Surprisingly, rice plants produce provitamin A, but only in the inedible part of the grain. Golden Rice overcomes this problem by genetically modifying the grain, allowing the edible grain to accumulate provitamin A ("The Golden Rice Project"). The genetic modification of organisms is far from being a recent endeavor. Guiding and reshaping animals and plants to make them more desirable has been a facet of humanity for over 14,000 years (Kingsbury). The very act that forever changed the human race, our transition from hunter-gatherers to farmers and ranchers, was a form of genetic manipulation. Domestication of plants and animals is the simplest form of controlled remodeling of an organism's genes, through artificial selection. This means that individuals with similar traits were crossed to propagate and bring out the desired characteristics. However, genetic engineering, as the direct manipulation of an organism using biotechnology, was first carried out by Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen in 1973 (Arnold). All they did was insert a gene into a bacteria to make it resistant to a particular antibiotic. Little did they know that their microscopic act would trigger the whole controversial issue of GMOs or genetically modified organisms (Genome News