DNA system provided the first clear suggestion that DNA carries genetic information. In 1933, while studying virgin sea urchin eggs, Jean Brachet suggested that DNA is found in the cell nucleus and that RNA is present exclusively in the cytoplasm. At the time, "yeast nucleic acid" (RNA) was thought to occur only in plants, while "thymus nucleic acid" (DNA) only in animals. The latter was thought to be a tetramer, with the function of buffering cellular pH. In 1937, William Astbury produced the first X-ray diffraction patterns that showed that DNA had a regular structure. In 1943, Oswald Avery, along with
Cell cycle checkpoint Cell cycle checkpoint All living organisms are the products of repeated rounds of cell growth and division. During this process, known as the cell cycle, a cell duplicates its contents and then divides in two. The purpose of the cell cycle is to accurately duplicate each organism's DNA and then divide the cell and its contents evenly between the two resulting cells. In eukaryotes, the cell cycle consists of four main stages: G, during which a cell is metabolically active and continuously grows; S phase, during which DNA replication takes place; G, during which cell growth continues and the cell