Neither - they are talking plasmids, which are a precursor to both. Plasmids are circular DNA that are used in cloning. Cloning is the step-by-step process by

Neither - they are talking plasmids, which are a precursor to both. Plasmids are circular DNA that are used in cloning. Cloning is the step-by-step process by which a construct is engineered (e.g. promoter and gene sequence placed in the correct orientation, along with a selectable maker in traditional GM). Plasmids are amplified in bacterial systems to generate loads more, and a very stable. Good for storing and passing around to other labs. Often the same plasmid backbone is used in multiple constructs, hence why the approach in the paper works. You could not use this approach to detect which lab CRISPRd an organism (the tell-tale signs are not retained), but it would have some effectiveness in traditional GM if the insert were sequenced, as some of the lab-specific cloning decisions and mutations could be present.