The following sections of this BookRags Literature Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources.
(c)1998-2002; (c)2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". (c)1994-2005, by Walton Beacham.
All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copyrighted by BookRags, Inc.
American virologist Howard Temin proposed the provirus hypothesis. The hypothesis arose from Temin's observations that the Rous sarcoma virus, which has ribonucleic acid (RNA) as its core genetic material, could not infect a cell once the cell's synthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was stopped. Temin formed a possible explanation, the provirus hypothesis, claiming that the RNA of the invading virus is somehow copied or translated into the DNA of the host cell. As a result, the reproductive activity of the cell would be altered and the cell would become cancerous.
Temin's provirus hypothesis met with skepticism, as the prevailing dogma at the time was that genetic information passed only from DNA to RNA. However, working independently, Temin and David Baltimore proved, in 1970, that the hypothesis was correct. They identified the viral enzyme dubbed reverse transcriptase, which functions to pass genetic information to DNA from RNA.
This work has been useful in cloning, genetic engineering and research on AIDS, which is caused by a retrovirus. For the formulation of the provirus hypothesis and for sharing in its validation, Temin shared the 1975 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine with Baltimore and Renato Dulbecco.