retrovirus
noun [ C ] medical specialized uk/ˌret.rəʊˈvaɪə.rəs/ us/ˌret.roʊˈvaɪ.rəs/
逆转录酶病毒
a type of virus that includes some cancer viruses and HIV (= the virus that causes AIDS, a serious disease that destroys the body's ability to fight infection)
Antiretroviral drugs attack HIV, which is a retrovirus, by interfering with the virus's ability to use specific enzymes that it needs to survive.
Retroviruses have a long incubation period before active disease processes begin.
- More examples
- Each of the multiple copies of the endogenous retrovirus was subtly different.
- Sometimes the genes of the retrovirus do not express their information immediately.
- Retroviruses slip genes into chromosomes at random, sometimes causing mutations that can make normal cells turn into cancers.