transcriptase
- n the enzyme that copies DNA into RNA
- His co-discovery in 1970 of the enzyme reverse transcriptase helped scientists in their search for a cancer-causing virus and led him to synthesize for the first time a portion of .
- A retrovirus, however, must first use its enzyme called reverse transcriptase to convert its RNA into a DNA molecule, which can then insert itself into the cell's DNA and order the .
- Alone, RNA lacks the ability to conquer cells, but retroviruses carry an enzyme called reverse transcriptase.