Medical Definition of Retroviral vector
1.
See Retroviridae. Retroviral vectors are used in the genetic modification of cells as a means of introducing foreign DNA into the genome.
For example: retroviral vector 's encoding histochemical markers (reporter genes) are used in the study of neural cell lineage in vertebrates. Retroviral vector's may contain the bacterial lacZ gene that encodes for the enzyme _ galactosidase. When the retrovirally infected cells divide, they replicate the foreign DNA.
Progeny of infected cells will therefore express the protein and can then be detected histochemically.
(11 Jan 1998)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Retroviral Vector
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