Yes, reverse transcriptase needs a short DNA oligonucleotide called a primer to initiate reverse transcription. The primer serves as a starting point for synthesizing a new strand by helping the reverse transcriptase enzyme bind to its complementary sequences on the RNA template.

There are three basic types of primers available – Oligo(dT) primers, random primers, and gene-specific primers. The type of primer used depends on the RNA template and the downstream applications.