The central dogma of biology commonly seen is thus:
- DNA --> RNA --> Protein
However, this not entirely accurate as there are other pathways as well. Reverse transcription is the process of forming a DNA product from an RNA template.
Discovery
Reverse transcriptase (als known as RNA dependent DNA polymerase) was discovered by Howard Temin and David Baltimore. Their work later gained them the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine in 1975.
In 1961, Temin was studying RNA viruses. The instability of an RNA genome led him to believe that the RNA was converted into DNA. Baltimore seperately was also working with viruses. Both scientists independently performed the same set of experiments.
The experiments began with a pure culture of virus that was disrupted using detergent. Next, radiolabeled deoxythymidine triphosphate (dTTP) was added to the mix. The men then observed that the dTTP was incorporated into the DNA. When radiolabled ribonucleotide triphosphate (rNTP) was added, no RNA synthesis was observed. To confirm that the product truely was DNA, RNase and DNase were added. The product was only affected by DNase.
Information obtained from: http://basic.shsmu.edu.cn/jpkc/cellbiota/resource/exper/19.pdf