Q.Explain the process of replication of retrovirus after it gains entry into the human body.

Step 1. After entering the body, the retrovirus first enters macrophages.

Step 2. Inside the macrophage, the viral RNA genome is used as a template by the enzyme reverse transcriptase to synthesise viral DNA — the defining feature of a retrovirus (RNA to DNA, reversing the usual DNA to RNA flow).

Step 3. This newly made viral DNA is then incorporated into the DNA of the host macrophage, which directs the infected cell to continuously produce new viral particles, effectively turning the macrophage into a 'virus factory.'

Step 4. Simultaneously, the virus enters helper T-lymphocytes, replicates by the same reverse-transcription-and-integration process, and produces progeny viruses. …

Trace the retrovirus's replication cycle step by step: cell entry, reverse transcription, genome integrat …

• Omitting the reverse transcription step, which is what defines a retrovirus …