Like retrotransposons, retroviruses use the enzyme reverse transcriptase to convert RNA into DN The enzyme is encoded by the retroviral genome, and a few molecules of the enzyme are packaged along with the RNA genome in each virus particle. When the single-stranded RNA genome of the retrovirus enters a cell, the reverse transcriptase brought in with it makes a complementary DNA strand to form a DNA/RNA hybrid double helix.

The RNA strand is removed, and the reverse transcriptase (which can use either DNA or RNA as a template) now synthesizes a complementary DNA strand to produce a DNA double helix. This DNA is then inserted, or integrated, into a randomly selected site in the host genome by a virally encoded integrase enzyme. In this integrated state, the virus is latent: each time the host cell divides, it passes on a copy of the integrated viral genome, which is known as a provirus, to its progeny cells.

The next step in the replication of a retrovirus—which can take place long after its integration into the host genome—is the copying of the integrated viral DNA into RNA by a host-cell RNA polymerase, which produces large numbers of single-stranded RNAs identical to the original infecting genome.

These viral RNAs are then translated by the host-cell ribosomes to produce the viral shell proteins, the envelope proteins, and reverse transcriptase—all of which are assembled with the RNA genome into new virus particles.