to examine the metabolism of yeast cells. Barton became a Professor of Chemistry at Hunter College from 1980 to 1982, and began to develop her own laboratory, the Barton Research Group. While at Hunter, she studied the interactions of zinc ions with DNA, and later the interactions of ruthenium(II) and cobalt(III) complexes with DNA. This enabled her to roughly model complexes on a DNA helix and to begin studying the photophysical and photochemical properties related to enantiomers. In the 1980s, she moved to Columbia University where she taught from 1983 to 1989. She became a full professor in 1986 and was the first woman to receive tenure in the Chemistry department at Columbia. Her research focused on the use of organo-ruthenium complexes to examine the physical structure of DNA. With Nicholas Turro and Vijay Kumar she studied the interactions of ruthenium phenanthroline complexes and DNA and was able to design binding molecules targeted to specific DNA sequences. Photosensitive ruthenium complexes would glow brightly when they attached to the DNA double helix. When rhodium complexes were attached to the DNA, they would attract the electron causing the glow, and "turn off" the effect. During her time at Columbia, Barton obtained two patents for this method of analyzing DNA structure. In 1989, Barton moved to Caltech, where her research has focused on charge transport in DNA. By using specially-designed chiral metal complexes as probes of DNA she has been able to study how DNA is damaged and repaired. In DNA-based diagnostic tests, complexes are used to determine whether electrons can flow across the DNA. If an electron could not move along the DNA, the DNA would continue to glow, indicating that there was damage in the DNA genetic molecule. The research that Barton, Catherine J. Murphy, Megan Núñez and others have done at Caltech has supported the idea of fast long-range electron transfer over DNA, challenging accepted scientific views and causing considerable controversy. Based on years of studies, Barton and her group theorize that DNA operates like a wire, supporting a type of long-range signaling that enables repair proteins to detect and correct mistakes in DNA. This view of DNA is deeper and more dynamic than previous views of DNA as a static library. Understanding the mediation of electron-transfer chemistry by the DNA double helix has laid a foundation for the development of new diagnostic tools and for the possible design of