plasmid

Term: plasmid

Origin: Anc Greek

πλάσμα (noun)/plasma(=something formed or molded, an idol) > πλάσσω/plasso(=create, form, mold)

-ίδιο/idio(=-id, suffix that is used as diminutive of a noun )

original meaning of plasma: substance of uncertain shape.

Joshua Lederberg (1925-2008)

Coined:

in the early 1950s by the American geneticist and microbiologist Joshua Lederberg (1925-2008) in order to describe any bacterial genetic element that exists in an extrachromosomal state although this description included bacterial viruses.

Definition:

Bacterial extrachromosomal  DNA elements that replicate autonomously.