Various aspects related to the preparation of congeners of the aminoglycosides gentamicin such as the congener C2 and using this compound or derivatives thereof and pharmaceutically active salts to treat diseases that involve genetic mutations which introduce a missense or premature stop codon into a gene. Still other aspects include treating human or animal patients with the gentamicin congener C2 and derivatives and pharmaceutical salt thereof to overcome, or to at least mitigate, the symptoms of disease and disorders such as some forms of Becker's or Duchenne muscular dystrophy, Hurler's Syndrome and Cystic Fibrosis that have as their etiology the presence of a premature stop codon in a gene whose proper expression is necessary for good health.