Detection and significance of retroviral reverse transcriptase present in cell cultures

The enzyme reverse transcriptase (RT) is a part of all retroviruses, and the presence of retroviruses in biological samples can be detected by measuring RT's activity. Product Enhanced Reverse Transcriptase (PERT) test is a very sensitive assay for detection of low concentrations of RT in a sample. To make the assay regulatory acceptable, a standard like avian myeloblastosis virus RT should be inc…