Simplify the following text for a Grade 14 native English-speaking person.
Original: Discovered in 1946 by Joshua Lederberg and Edward Tatum , conjugation is a mechanism of horizontal gene transfer as are transformation and transduction although these two other mechanisms do not involve cell-to-cell contact .
Simplified: Conjugation is a mechanism of horizontal gene transfer , as are transformation and transduction , though these two other mechanisms do not involve cell-to-cell contact .