EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -A type of virus that has RNA instead of DNA as its genetic material. It uses an enzyme called reverse transcriptase to become part of the host cells’ DNA. This allows many copies of the virus to be made in the host cells.

Detailed explanation-2: -Retroviruses are “retro” because they reverse the direction of the normal gene-copying process. Usually, cells convert DNA into RNA so that it can be made into proteins. But with retroviruses, the process has to start by going backward.

Detailed explanation-3: -Retroviruses carry their genome as RNA, and because they replicate via a DNA intermediate, they must also carry the sequence for the promoter that will drive the expression of the genomic RNA.

Detailed explanation-4: -A retrovirus is a virus that uses RNA as its genomic material. Upon infection with a retrovirus, a cell converts the retroviral RNA into DNA, which in turn is inserted into the DNA of the host cell.

Detailed explanation-5: -All retroviruses are protein-enveloped, positive-stranded RNA viruses that encode a unique enzyme, RT, capable of catalyzing the flow of genetic information from RNA to DNA, counter to that of most biologic systems. Thus, retroviruses have a DNA intermediate in their life cycle that can integrate into the host genome.