Reverse transcriptase: an enzymeplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigEnzyme: a macromolecule, usually a protein (but sometimes an RNA), that functions as a catalyst of some kind of biochemical reaction. that is usually isolated from retroviruses. It catalyzes the formation of cDNAplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigComplementary DNA (cDNA): DNA that has been reverse transcribed from spliced mRNA using reverse transcriptase. cDNA sequences are useful because they lack intron sequences and therefore contain information about the ORF of intron-containing eukaryotic genes. using RNAplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigRNA sequencing (RNAseq): an experimental technique that sequences all the RNAs in a sample. It is based off of converting RNAs into cDNAs with reverse transcriptase, followed by Illumina sequencing. (usually mRNAplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigmessenger RNA (mRNA): an RNA molecule that codes for protein.) as a template.