Researched
Reverse transcriptase
Howard Temin and David Baltimore found independently in 1970 that some viruses copy RNA into DNA, overturning the assumed one-way flow of genetic information.
Open in the interactive tree →The enzyme, reverse transcriptase, earned them the 1975 Nobel Prize (shared with Renato Dulbecco). It became a lab tool for copying RNA into DNA and the target of the first HIV drugs.
Prerequisites
- Viruses discovered1892-1898
- The genetic code1966
Unlocks
- Oncogenes1976
- HIV identified1983
- Antiretroviral therapy (HIV)1996The first HIV drugs block reverse transcriptase
- Single-cell atlases2016Single-cell RNA sequencing starts by copying each cell's RNA into DNA with this enzyme