Plasmid in news
A ring of DNA that can move. Not a moral actor.
Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.
Familiarity45
Medical weight55
Benefit25
Risk50
Research82
Live debate40
LessMore
Each bar is a 0-100 atlas score for this topic, not a timeline.
Both scores stay visible. Drag the slider to emphasize Benefit or Risk.
Benefit
Risk
Familiarity
45%
Milestones in order. This is history, not a weekly activity grid.
- Griffith effect
- DNA is the principle
- Conjugation shown
- Transduction named
- Plasmid word
- R-plasmids clinical
- Integron described
- NDM tours
Last reviewed Sources & creditsMedia creditsMethodology
Encounter route pick
Pick one encounter or route already written on this topic and reopen it next time.
Classroom literacy — not a lab result, diagnosis or outbreak alert.
Route on this page
One encounter scale
Scale literacy. Not a lab result or a diagnosis.
Quick facts
Fred Griffith showed that a 'transforming principle' from heat-killed smooth pneumococci could change live rough cells in mice — history, not a protocol.Griffith 1928
Avery, MacLeod and McCarty identified the transforming principle as DNA, a foundation of molecular biology.Avery 1944
Lederberg and Tatum showed E. coli can exchange genes by direct contact — conjugation in the textbook sense.Conjugation 1946
Zinder and Lederberg found phages can ferry bacterial genes between cells.Transduction 1952
Beta-lactamase and other cassettes ride plasmids and integrons across species — why stewardship is ecological.Resistance hitchhikers
Transformation, conjugation and transduction are the named routes. This page stays at names and history, not lab steps.Three textbook routes
Horizontal gene transfer is sideways inheritance: DNA moves between contemporaries instead of only from parent to offspring.
That is why resistance genes can jump species in hospitals and farms. The public story is traffic, not a construction kit.
Transformation, conjugation and transduction are names for different vehicles. None of them is written here as a protocol.
45FamiliarityEditorial 0–100 browsing aid within this atlas.
55Medical weightEditorial 0–100 browsing aid within this atlas.
25BenefitEditorial 0–100 browsing aid within this atlas.
50RiskEditorial 0–100 browsing aid within this atlas.
Horizontal gene transfer — concrete atlas depth on Tool-Lifes.
Horizontal gene transfer — concrete atlas depth on Tool-Lifes.
Genes that travel sideways
English biology class taught a tree. Resistance news taught a web: plasmids moving between species.
Species walls
They leak. That is why stewardship is ecological.
Public-health desks
No transformation recipes. Educational only.
The profile
- Familiarity45
- Medical weight55
- Benefit25
- Risk50
- Research82
- Live debate40
Risk
Sideways DNA traffic — conjugation, transduction, transformation as names and history, not protocols.
Seven ways into this topic
Related on the scale
Slide across the log scale — teaching sizes, not lab measurements.
Frequently asked questions
Where should I start with Horizontal gene transfer?
Read Identity → How they live → Body & health, then use compare rails.
Is this page advice for Horizontal gene transfer?
Public-health education — not a care plan, prescription, or outbreak briefing.
What does the local lens add?
It names everyday desks for Change & defence before English norms look universal.
Are the scores a ranking of Horizontal gene transfer?
No — editorial 0–100 browsing aids inside this atlas only.
How do I compare Horizontal gene transfer to neighbours?
Use related cards and best-of / quiz rails after the first three chapters.
Which chapter is densest?
How they live and Body & health carry mechanisms; skim Identity first.
Can I cite these scores externally?
Treat them as atlas orientation, not certificates or forecasts.
What should I check before acting?
Primary desks for Change & defence: public-health desks and lab teaching frames.
Sources & research
More in Change & defence
Mutation and variants
Populations of genomes, not cartoon villains — RNA viruses copy sloppily, and public-health names track clusters that spread.
Familiarity 92Antibiotic resistance
A shared drug budget under selection in hospitals, farms and wastewater — stewardship, not a lab manual.
Familiarity 85Vaccines and immunity
Antibodies, memory cells and community arithmetic — conceptual, not a prescription and not an anti-vaccine tract.
Familiarity 94Biofilms
Surface cities of microbes — plaque and catheters explain persistence, without a grow-your-own kit.
Familiarity 38Hygiene and balance
Clean water saves lives; missing old microbial partners is a separate, still-debated immune story.
Familiarity 70