transcriptase
1
9.3
- noun
- /trænsˈkrɪpteɪs/
- Specialized
:
transcriptasa
- The scientists use an enzyme called reverse transcriptase to match up the RNA to a version of the DNA from which it originated.
- reverse transcriptase
- transcriptase inhibitors
- nucleoside reverse transcriptase
Examples
-
Second, the virus polymerase also functions as a reverse transcriptase.
Academic text (1994) -
RNA viruses use reverse transcriptase to copy themselves into DNA in host cells, and retrotransposons also use the enzyme.
Academic text (1998) -
Yeah, it's the transcriptase and it's attached to something.
-
It goes after reverse transcriptase only.
-
But you've also heard throughout the course how handy this reverse transcriptase material is.
-
Wasting no time, the virus deploys the reverse transcriptase it has brought along.
Academic text (2005) -
A cDNA library is prepared from isolated cellular mRNAs using the enzyme reverse transcriptase.
Academic text (1992) -
Researchers also probed the origins of the telomerase system by searching for clues in reverse transcriptase, an enzyme that is not unique to telomerase.
Academic text (1998) -
First-strand cDNA synthesis was performed using Superscript Reverse Transcriptase (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) according to the manufacturer's protocol.
Academic text (2014) -
The researchers utilized transcriptase to synthesize RNA, allowing for precise genetic studies.
Synonyms
5
9.6
A protein that builds DNA or RNA by joining small parts to an existing strand
1
6.3
A protein in cells that makes RNA by copying DNA
Compounds
- Specialized
1
6.3
An enzyme that makes DNA from RNA, often used by viruses like HIV
- Specialized
A drug that stops HIV changing its genetic material and is used with other medicines
- Specialized
An HIV drug that joins viral DNA and stops the enzyme that copies the virus
- Specialized
A drug that stops an enzyme viruses like HIV use to copy their genes
Surface Forms
Morphology
transcriptase = transcript (semi-transparent) = transcript + ase
Formed from 'transcript' + the enzyme-forming suffix '-ase'; the relation is clear in scientific contexts but '-ase' is specialist vocabulary that B1 learners may not know.
Etymology
Transcriptase comes from trans- ('across') and script ('write'), with -ase marking an 'enzyme'. So a transcriptase is like a small 'writer' that copies information across from DNA into RNA, which explains its modern meaning.