Editing Plasmid (section)

==History==

The term ''plasmid'' was coined in 1952 by the American [[molecular biology|molecular biologist]] [[Joshua Lederberg]] to refer to "any extrachromosomal hereditary determinant."<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Lederberg J | title = Cell genetics and hereditary symbiosis | journal = Physiological Reviews | volume = 32 | issue = 4 | pages = 403–430 | date = October 1952 | pmid = 13003535 | doi = 10.1152/physrev.1952.32.4.403 | citeseerx = 10.1.1.458.985 }}</ref><ref name="Helinski_2022">{{cite journal | vauthors = Helinski DR | title = A Brief History of Plasmids | journal = EcoSal Plus | volume = 10 | issue = 1 | pages = eESP00282021 | date = December 2022 | pmid = 35373578 | pmc = 10729939 | doi = 10.1128/ecosalplus.ESP-0028-2021 | veditors = Kaper JB }}</ref> The term's early usage included any bacterial genetic material that exists extrachromosomally for at least part of its replication cycle, but because that description includes bacterial viruses, the notion of plasmid was refined over time to refer to genetic elements that reproduce autonomously.<ref name=Hayes_2003 />
Later in 1968, it was decided that the term plasmid should be adopted as the term for extrachromosomal genetic element,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mgen.microbiologyresearch.org/about/content/journal/mgen/standing-on-the-shoulders-of-giants/falkow3 |title=Microbial Genomics: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants | vauthors = Falkow S |work=Microbiology Society}}</ref> and to distinguish it from viruses, the definition was narrowed to genetic elements that exist exclusively or predominantly outside of the chromosome, can replicate autonomously, and contribute to transferring mobile elements between unrelated bacteria.<ref name="Smillie_2010" /><ref name="Carattoli_2013" /><ref name=Hayes_2003 />