The use of molecules that gene specifically bind to native DNA is a strategy to: (i) alter gene expression; (ii) to probe transcriptional regulatory sequences; and (iii) to affect gene correction through targeted homologous recombination. Professor Gold has synthesized a series of heterocyclic C-glycosides that sequence specifically form complexes with long stretches of DNA. This laboratory continues to explore the chemistry and biological activities of these molecules.

Most anticancer drugs covalently react with DNA to afford a diverse mixture of products. This issue is important in the design of new anticancer drugs that are cytotoxic without being mutagenic, i.e., will not induce secondary cancers. The Gold laboratory is synthesizing molecules that generate specific DNA adducts designed to be solely cytotoxic. In addition to the chemistry, they are evaluating the biological activity of these compounds in bacterial, yeast and mammalian systems in which the DNA repair capacity of the cells has been genetically altered.