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• n  any of a group of viruses that contain two single-strand linear RNA molecules per virion and reverse transcriptase (RNA to DNA); the virus transcribes its RNA into a cDNA provirus that is then incorporated into the host cell

• Yamanaka creates mouse iPS cells using safer plasmids of DNA instead of retrovirus vectors.
• They used a retrovirus vector, piggybacking the genes for the growth factors and proteins onto this infectious ferry.
• When the retrovirus invaded a marrow cell, it would insert itself into the cellular DNA, as retroviruses are wont to do, carrying the good gene with it.

News & Articles

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• Researchers discover new retroviruses in polar bear Knut and panda Bao Bao
  ( Saarland University ) Researchers at Saarland University and Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin have analyzed the genetic material of the polar bear Knut at Berlin Zoo and discovered and characterized new sequences of endogenous retroviruses. The retroviruses were also found in another former resident of Berlin Zoo: The giant panda Bao Bao.
  July 15, 2013 - EurekAlert!
• New retroviruses found in polar bear 'Knut' and panda 'Bao Bao'
  Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are viruses that at some point in the past inserted themselves into the nuclear genome of a host’s germ cell. Once integrated in a germ cell the virus would be passed on from one generation to the next and the endogenous retroviral genome would therefore be inherited to new species that evolve from the original host.
  July 15, 2013 - Science Daily

Quotes

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• Nicolas Sarkozy in Earthtimes (press release)
  The discovery of the AIDS virus at the beginning of the 1980s marked the start of a period of intense research that led to the creation of anti-retrovirus treatments,Sarkozy said. "Today millions of people around the world are benefiting...