What is the structure of reverse transcriptase?

Reverse transcriptase, like other viral nucleic acid polymerases, possesses a structure resembling a right hand. Reverse transcriptases can be dimeric (e.g. HIV) while others are monomeric (e.g. retrotransposons). Regardless of structure, they typically have two main parts. One part is for copying genetic material (polymerase activity) and another for cutting RNA strands (RNase H activity). After breaking down the RNA template, reverse transcriptase enables the creation of the complementary DNA strand. Some fragments resulting from this breakdown also act as a starting point for DNA polymerase, which then synthesizes the complementary DNA strand.