Option (C) Joshua Lederberg is correct because the textbook's 'Selected developments in the history of biotechnology' section explicitly states that in 1952, Joshua Lederberg discovered 'Plasmids'. Paul Berg (Option A) is associated with assembling the first recombinant DNA in 1972, not with discovering plasmids. Sir Alec Jeffreys and Kary Mullis are not mentioned in the provided context.