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
DNA damage (naturally occurring) been analyzed. A mutant rad52 rad9 strain—which is both defective in DNA repair and G2 arrest—fails to undergo cell cycle arrest when exposed to x-irradiation. This suggests that even if DNA damage cannot be repaired, if RAD9 is not present, the cell cycle will not delay. Thus, unrepaired DNA damage is the signal that tells RAD9 to halt division and arrest the cell cycle in G2. Furthermore, there is a dose-dependent response; as the levels of x-irradiation—and subsequent DNA damage—increase, more cells, regardless of the mutations they have, become arrested in G2. Another, and perhaps more helpful way to visualize