title: Early days of DNA repair: discovery of nucleotide excision repair and homology-dependent recombinational repair.
abstract: The discovery of nucleotide excision repair in 1964 showed that DNA could be repaired by a mechanism that removed the damaged section of a strand and replaced it accurately by using the remaining intact strand as the template. This result showed that DNA could be actively metabolized in a process that had no precedent. In 1968, experiments describing postreplication repair, a process dependent on homologous recombination, were reported. The authors of these papers were either at Yale University or had prior Yale connections. Here we recount some of the events leading to these discoveries and consider the impact on further research at Yale and elsewhere.
authors.affiliation: Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: W Dean
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Rupp
mesh_terms: D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004265:DNA Helicases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004260:DNA Repair; D004261:DNA Replication / Q000235:genetics; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004706:Endodeoxyribonucleases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D049673:History, 20th Century; D059765:Homologous Recombination; D009154:Mutation / Q000528:radiation effects; D011740:Pyrimidine Dimers / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D011938:Rec A Recombinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012106:Research / Q000266:history* / Q000639:trends; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D011740:Pyrimidine Dimers; C058093:UvrB protein, E coli; D011938:Rec A Recombinases; D004706:Endodeoxyribonucleases; C066567:UvrC protein, E coli; C068631:UvrA protein, E coli; D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases; D004265:DNA Helicases
keywords: DNA repair; Yale Radiobiology; homology-dependent repair; leading strand restart; nucleotide excision repair; recombination; recombinational repair