reverse transcriptase: Meaning and Definition of

reverse' tran•scrip'tase

Pronunciation: (tran-skrip'tās, -tāz), [key]
— Biochem. Biochem.
  1. a retrovirus enzyme that synthesizes DNA from viral RNA, the reverse of the usual DNA-to-RNA replication: used in genetic engineering to clone genes from RNA strands.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.