text: The HIV-1 RT is an asymmetric 1000-amino acid heterodimer composed of p66 (560 amino acids) and p51 subunits (440 amino acids). The p66 subunit has two domains, a polymerase and ribonuclease H. The polymerase domain contains four subdomains, which have been termed “fingers”, “palm”, “thumb” and “connection” and it is often compared to a right hand. The role of the p66 subunit is to carry out the activity of RT whereas it contains the active sites of the enzyme. The p51 is believed to play mainly a structural role.