What is a reverse transcriptase?
Q: What is a reverse transcriptase?
A: A reverse transcriptase is an enzyme that transcribes single-stranded RNA into single-stranded DNA.
Q: How does reverse transcription differ from normal transcription?
A: Reverse transcription is the reverse of normal transcription, as it involves the synthesis of DNA from RNA.
Q: What type of enzyme is a reverse transcriptase?
A: A reverse transcriptase is a DNA polymerase enzyme.
Q: Does reverse transcriptase only make one strand of DNA?
A: No, reverse transcriptase also synthesizes a second strand of DNA complementary to the reverse-transcribed single-stranded cDNA.
Q: What is the purpose of reverse transcriptase?
A: The purpose of reverse transcriptase is to convert RNA into DNA through reverse transcription.
Q: What are some well-studied reverse transcriptases?
A: Some well-studied reverse transcriptases include those mentioned in the text, but there may be others as well.
Q: Why is reverse transcriptase important in biological research?
A: Reverse transcriptase is important in biological research because it can be used to study RNA molecules, which are difficult to work with using traditional DNA-based techniques.
