plasmid Hear it!

plasmid definition

plas·mid (plaz′mid)

noun

a small, DNA-containing, self-reproducing cytoplasmic element that exists outside the chromosome, as in some bacteria: because it can alter a hereditary characteristic when introduced into another bacterium, it is used in recombinant DNA technology

Etymology: plasm(a) + -id

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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