This semester, students in the Integrative Lab I are combining inorganic synthesis with biochemical analysis. Each lab group is synthesizing analogs of the chemotherapeutic drug cisplatin and testing the DNA damage done by these analogs with molecular beacons they designed. Above is a sample experiment in which undamaged target DNA with the molecular beacon has an intensity around 800 (green line), target DNA treated with commercial cisplatin has lost that signal (blue line) due to damage, and target DNA treated with a synthesized analog has an intensity of around 350 (red line) showing some DNA damage.