Recent Retrovirus pandemics.
In the last half century we have witnessed several pandemics caused by these retroviruses , viz, ,swine influenza ( during First world war), HIV/AIDS, Ebola, Sars and in 2020- Corona. These RNA viruses “…insert a copy of their own genome into the DNA of a host cell that it invades thus changing the genome of that host cell” To do this inversion process, retroviruses use their own reverse transcriptase enzyme to produce DNA from its own RNA genome . This new retroviral DNA- called a provirus– is incorporated into the host cell DNA genome with a intergrade enzyme.
However before a RNA virus can do this conversion it must first gain entrance into the human cell cytoplasm- usually a T4 thymus (helper ) cell.
Although retroviruses may be useful tools in adding new genes to your DNA genome they do run the risk of potentially creating new retrovirus pathogens.-
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