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.