The reverse transcription (RT) reaction is a critical step in HIV-1 life cycle. It is very strongly regulated and the target of several restriction factors (TRIM5α, APOBECs, SAMHD1, etc.). The progress of reverse transcription can be followed by measuring viral DNA by quantitative PCR (qPCR). This method is sensitive enough to allow detection of low amounts of HIV-1 DNA in infected cells and discriminate between several types of reverse transcription intermediates (so called 《early》 and 《late》 RT products, 2 Long Terminal Repeat (LTR) circles, integrated DNA).