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Members of the RNase H family can be found in nearly all organisms, from archaea and prokaryota to eukaryota. In eukaryotic DNA replication, RNAse H is responsible for cutting out the RNA primer, allowing completion of the newly synthesized DNA.

Retroviral RNase H, a part of the viral reverse transcriptase enzyme, is an important pharmaceutical target, as it is absolutely necessary for the proliferation of retroviruses, such as HIV. Inhibitors of this enzyme could therefore provide new drugs against diseases like AIDSAIDS Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome sometimes written Aids is a human disease characterized by progressive destruction of the body's immune system. It is widely accepted that AIDS results from infection with HIV. As of 2004, there are no RNase H inhibitors in clinical trials, though some approaches employing DNA aptamer s are in the preclinical stage.

In a molecular biologyMolecular biology is the study of biology at a molecular level. The field overlaps with other areas of biology, particularly genetics and biochemistry. Molecular biology chiefly concerns itself with understanding the interactions between the various syste laboratoryBiochemistry laboratory at the University of Cologne. A laboratory (often abbreviated lab is a place where scientific research and experiments are conducted. The equipment in a laboratory will depend on what the lab is used for. Chemistry and biochemistry, as RNase H specifically degrades the RNA in RNA:DNA hybrids and will not degrade DNA or unhybridized RNA, it is commonly used to destroy the RNA template after first-strand complementary DNAIn genetics, complementary DNA cDNA is single-stranded DNA synthesized from a mature mRNA template. cDNA is often used to clone eukaryotic genes in prokaryotes. Overview The central dogma of genetics outlines that in synthesizing proteins, DNA is transcri (cDNA) synthesis by reverse transcription, as well as procedures such as nuclease protection assay s. RNase H can also be used to degrade specific RNA strands when the cDNA oligo is hybridized, such as the removal of the poly(A) tail from mRNA hybridized to oligo(dT). To terminate the reaction, a chelator, such as EDTA, is often added to sequester the required metal ions in the reaction mixture.