Abstract

Reverse transcription is the process of creating complementary DNA (cDNA) from an RNA template using an enzyme known as a reverse transcriptase (RT). Eukaryotic cells use reverse transcriptases to extend the telomeres at the ends of their linear chromosomes, retrotransposon mobile genetic elements proliferate within the host genome, and viruses like HIV and hepatitis B use reverse transcriptases to replicate their genomes. Because transfers of information from RNA to DNA are explicitly held possible, the process does not violate the flows of genetic information as described by the classical central dogma. Retroviral RT has three sequential biochemical activities: ribonuclease H (RNase H), DNA-dependent DNA polymerase activity, and RNA-dependent DNA polymerase activity The enzyme is able to transform single-stranded RNA into double-stranded cDNA as a result of these activities taken together.