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Retrovirus

RNA virus that uses reverse transcriptase to convert its genome into DNA.

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Retrovirus

RNA virus that uses reverse transcriptase to convert its genome into DNA.

It is a type of virus whose genetic material is RNA and which uses the enzyme reverse transcriptase to transcribe it into DNA inside the cell it infects.

The resulting DNA integrates into the host cell's genome, where it can remain silent for years or begin producing new copies of the virus. HIV is the best-known retrovirus, and studying this mechanism made it possible to develop antiretroviral drugs.

The video explains that this enzyme, present in retroviruses, takes viral RNA and converts it into DNA, which travels to the nucleus of the infected cell and inserts itself into its genome, and points to HIV as its best-known example.

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