Potent cancer therapies in recent years have included compounds that are able to bind to directly to DNA.  One such chemotherapy agent is cisplatin, a simple platinum containing compound, that causes the cross-linking of DNA, leading to programmed cell-death.  Because chemotherapy agents, have the common problem of causing damage in healthy as well as diseased tissue, there has been push to design anti-cancer drugs with greater specificity. 

A possible solution, may come in the form of DNA intercalating complexes.  This cobalt centered complex possesses a wide and flat, phenanthroline substituent, that can fit between the groves of the DNA helix.  The opposite end of the complex is outfitted with a ferrocene group which can be made to lose or gain an electron, changing the binding affinity of the entire complex to DNA.   Such a complex may give rise to programmable medicines that can be designed for a greater specificity for cancer cells.