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50th anniversary of the discovery of reverse transcriptase
The simultaneous discovery in 1970 of reverse transcriptase in virions of retroviruses by Howard Temin and David Baltimore was perhaps the most dramatic scientific moment of the second half of the 20th century. Ten years previously, Temin’s observation of cells transformed by Rous Sarcoma virus led...
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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The American Society for Cell Biology
2021
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8120695/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33448895 http://dx.doi.org/10.1091/mbc.E20-09-0612 |
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author | Coffin, John M. |
author_facet | Coffin, John M. |
author_sort | Coffin, John M. |
collection | PubMed |
description | The simultaneous discovery in 1970 of reverse transcriptase in virions of retroviruses by Howard Temin and David Baltimore was perhaps the most dramatic scientific moment of the second half of the 20th century. Ten years previously, Temin’s observation of cells transformed by Rous Sarcoma virus led him to the conclusion that retroviruses replicate through a DNA intermediate he called the provirus. This heretical hypothesis was greeted with derision by fellow scientists; Temin and Baltimore performed a simple experiment, rapidly reproduced, and convincing to all. Its result was a major paradigm shift—reversal of the central dogma of molecular biology. It immediately grabbed the attention of both the scientific and lay press. It also came at a key time for cancer research, at the start of the “War on Cancer.” As a theoretical base and fundamental molecular tool, it enabled a decade of (largely fruitless) search for human oncogenic retroviruses but laid the foundation for the discovery of HIV 13 years later, leading to the development of effective therapy. I had the good fortune, as a student in Temin’s lab, to witness these events. I am honored to be able to share my recollection on the occasion of their 50th anniversary. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-8120695 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | The American Society for Cell Biology |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-81206952021-05-14 50th anniversary of the discovery of reverse transcriptase Coffin, John M. Mol Biol Cell Retrospective The simultaneous discovery in 1970 of reverse transcriptase in virions of retroviruses by Howard Temin and David Baltimore was perhaps the most dramatic scientific moment of the second half of the 20th century. Ten years previously, Temin’s observation of cells transformed by Rous Sarcoma virus led him to the conclusion that retroviruses replicate through a DNA intermediate he called the provirus. This heretical hypothesis was greeted with derision by fellow scientists; Temin and Baltimore performed a simple experiment, rapidly reproduced, and convincing to all. Its result was a major paradigm shift—reversal of the central dogma of molecular biology. It immediately grabbed the attention of both the scientific and lay press. It also came at a key time for cancer research, at the start of the “War on Cancer.” As a theoretical base and fundamental molecular tool, it enabled a decade of (largely fruitless) search for human oncogenic retroviruses but laid the foundation for the discovery of HIV 13 years later, leading to the development of effective therapy. I had the good fortune, as a student in Temin’s lab, to witness these events. I am honored to be able to share my recollection on the occasion of their 50th anniversary. The American Society for Cell Biology 2021-01-15 /pmc/articles/PMC8120695/ /pubmed/33448895 http://dx.doi.org/10.1091/mbc.E20-09-0612 Text en © 2021 Coffin. “ASCB®,” “The American Society for Cell Biology®,” and “Molecular Biology of the Cell®” are registered trademarks of The American Society for Cell Biology. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). Two months after publication it is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License. |
spellingShingle | Retrospective Coffin, John M. 50th anniversary of the discovery of reverse transcriptase |
title | 50th anniversary of the discovery of reverse transcriptase |
title_full | 50th anniversary of the discovery of reverse transcriptase |
title_fullStr | 50th anniversary of the discovery of reverse transcriptase |
title_full_unstemmed | 50th anniversary of the discovery of reverse transcriptase |
title_short | 50th anniversary of the discovery of reverse transcriptase |
title_sort | 50th anniversary of the discovery of reverse transcriptase |
topic | Retrospective |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8120695/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33448895 http://dx.doi.org/10.1091/mbc.E20-09-0612 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT coffinjohnm 50thanniversaryofthediscoveryofreversetranscriptase |