Reverse Transcriptase (RT) Enzyme

Reverse Transcriptase played a pivotal role in both diagnostic testing and scientific research related to the SARS- CoV-2 virus.

About Reverse Transcriptase Enzyme

• It Plays a crucial role in the replication of some viruses, including HIV.

• It allows the virus to convert its genetic material, which is single-stranded RNA, into double-stranded DNA.

This DNA can then integrate into the host cell’s DNA and be transcribed to produce new viral particles.

✓ Reverse transcriptase was independently discovered by Howard Temin and David Baltimore in 1970,for which they shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1975.

Applications

1. Researchers could now reverse-transcribe messenger RNAs into DNA fragments, clone that DNA into bacterial vectors, and study the function of corresponding genes.

2. Diagnosis: reverse transcriptase for RNA-to-DNA conversion can be used in diagnostics, especially for RNA viruses, including Hepatitis B, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), and Human Endogenous Retroviruses and Neuropsychiatric Diseases.

3. In biotechnology, reverse transcriptase is widely used to create cDNA libraries and in techniques such as reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

Extra Mile: Difference among translation, Replication, transcription and reverse transcription (RT)

• Transcription is the process by which the genetic information in DNA is copied into messenger RNA (mRNA).

• Replication is the process by which a cell makes an exact copy of its DNA

• Translation is the process by which the mRNA sequence is used to synthesize a protein.

• Reverse transcription is the process by which RNA is used as a template to synthesize complementary DNA