<unk>  is the process of making a double stranded DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) molecule from a single stranded RNA (ribonucleic acid) template. It is called<unk>  as it acts in the opposite or<unk>  direction to<unk> . This idea was very unpopular at first as it contradicted the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology which states DNA is transcribed into RNA which is translated into proteins. However, in 1970 when the scientists Howard Temin and David Baltimore both independently discovered the enzyme responsible for<unk> , named<unk>  transcriptase, the possibility that genetic information could be passed on in this manner was finally accepted.This was the beginning of a resurgence of interest in Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck, a French scientist who in 1809 developed the first theory of evolution, pre-dating Charles Darwin by fifty years. Lamarck proposed that characteristics acquired during a lifetime could be communicated back to the germline (DNA) and passed on the succeeding generations.<unk>  was a critical precursor to wider acceptance of Lamarck's theory.
Reverse transcription
Transcription 
Thermal depolymerization
Self-replication
Carrier generation and recombination
Polymerization
Radical polymerization
Gene expression