In this single author paper Boyer isolated, characterized and named the enzyme that Arber No. 12028 had observed and described in terms of its basic action on DNA. Boyer called it the “fi R-factor restriction endonuclease,” later to become EcoR1. He wrote, “The various restriction endonucleases with exclusive recognition capacities offer a unique probe for dissecting small genomes such as gamma, fd, polyoma and SV40. This work is now being undertaken in several labs, including the author’s."

Digital facsimile from annualreviews.org at this link.

(Thanks to Juan Weiss for this reference and its interpretation.)

Cohen, Boyer and associates developed the first practical method for cloning genes, by the formation of recombinant plasmids which can be used to infect plasmid-free bacteria. The authors demonstrated that if DNA is fragmented with restriction endonucleases and combined with similarly restricted plasmid DNA, the resulting recombinant DNA molecules are biologically active and can replicate in host bacterial cells. Plasmids can thus act as vectors for the propagation of foreign cloned genes. This paper is available from the PNAS at this link.

The method that Cohen and Boyer invented eventually resulted in U.S. patent No. 4,237,224 granted to Cohen and Boyer on December 2, 1980. This patent, "Process for producing biologically functional molecular chimeras," was the foundation of the biotechnology industry. 

Cohen published a semi-popular account of this research as "The manipulation of genes," Scientific American, 233 (1975) 24-33.

Order of authorship in the original paper: Itakura, Hirose, Crea..., Bolivar, Boyer. Synthesis of the gene for somatostatin (growth hormone-inhibiting hormone (GHIH). This was the first demonstration of a foreign gene inserted into E. coli and the first hormone genetically engineered in bacteria. The technique led to the biotechnological production of insulin by Genentech under the product name, Humulin. 

(Thanks to Juan Weiss for this reference and its interpretation).

Order of authorship in the original publication Bolivar, Rodriguez, Betlach...Boyer...The authors describe the composition and molecular construction of pBR-322 (named after Bolivar and Rodriguez) and call it "the most versatile plasmid we have ever constructed." The paper includes the first restriction map of the plasmid. Plasmid pBR-322 was the plasmid used in the synthesis of the gene for somatostatin (No. 10964), leading to the biotechnological production of insulin by Boyer's biotechnology company, Genentech in 1977. 

The authors presented this paper in June 1977. It was published in the journal Gene in November, 1977. The paper also appeared in Beers, Basset (eds.) Recombinant molecules: Impact on science and society, Miles International Symposium, Series No. 10. New York: Raven Press, 1977. The book form version of the paper indicates that it was submitted for publication in the journal, suggesting that the version in book form might have been released before the publication in the journal.

(Thanks to Juan Weiss for this reference and its interpretation.)