To monitor the progression of an HIV infection and assess the efficacy of antiretroviral therapy, clinicians measure the patient's viral load using RT-PCR. What is the precise role of the enzyme reverse transcriptase in this diagnostic procedure?
It cuts the host cell's genomic DNA at specific restriction sites to isolate the viral integration site.
It synthesizes a complementary DNA (cDNA) strand using the viral RNA as a template.
It catalyzes the formation of phosphodiester bonds to integrate the viral DNA into the host genome.
It amplifies the target DNA sequence exponentially through automated cycles of heating and cooling.
97 exam-style questions on OCR GCSE Biology 6.3 Monitoring and maintaining health, covering 6.3.1 Health and disease, 6.3.2 Interactions between diseases, 6.3.3 Spread of communicable diseases, 6.3.4 Common infections and diseases, 6.3.5 Physical plant defence responses, 6.3.6 Chemical plant defence responses, 6.3.7 Detecting and identifying plant diseases, 6.3.8 White blood cells and platelets, 6.3.9 Non-specific defence systems, 6.3.10 The immune system, 6.3.11 Monoclonal antibodies, 6.3.12 Vaccines and medicines, 6.3.13 Aseptic techniques, 6.3.14 Discovery and development of new medicines, 6.3.15 Causes of non-communicable diseases, 6.3.16 Treatments for cardiovascular disease, 6.3.17 Lifestyle factors and non-communicable diseases, 6.3.18 Cancer, 6.3.19 Stem cells in medicine, 6.3.20 Gene technology in medicine, and 6.3.21 The human genome and medicine. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.