Re: Where can I find more info on the history of Plasmid research?

Actually, plasmids were discovered because of studies on recombinance. In 1928, Frederick Griffith showed that something he called the R-factor was responsible for the virulence of Pneumococcus (Streptococcus pneumoniae), the bacterium that causes pneumonia. Oswald Avery picked up on Griffith's work and determined to identify the chemical nature of the R-factor, which all of the other biochemists told him must be protein. Instead, Avery showed in 1944 that the R-factor was composed of DNA. Seven years later, in 1951, Joshua Lederberg identified another transforming bit of DNA he called the F-factor which allowed recombination in Escherichia coli by promoting conjugation. In 1952, Lederberg coined the term "plasmid" to refer to "extranuclear" chromosomes, specifically the R- and F-factors. Much of the subsequent work through the '50's and '60's, identifying replication, transcription, and the genetic code, was done using bacteriophages, but most genetic engineering has since returned to the plasmid because of its small size and easy manipulation.