any of a group of viruses that, unlike most other viruses and all cellular organisms, carry their genetic blueprint in the form of ribonucleic acid ( RNA). Retroviruses are responsible for certain cancers and slow virus infections of animals and cause at least one type of human cancer. They have also been identified as the cause of acquired immune deficiency syndrome ( AIDS) in humans, and they have been linked to one form of human hepatitis.

Retroviruses are so named because, by means of a special enzyme called reverse transcriptase, discovered independently by Howard Temin and David Baltimore in 1971, they transcribe RNA into deoxyribonucleic acid ( DNA). This constitutes a reversal of the usual cellular processes of transcription of DNA into RNA. The action of reverse transcriptase makes it possible for genetic (genetics) material from a retrovirus to become permanently incorporated into the DNA genome of an infected cell and is widely used in biotechnology to synthesize genes.