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Library – Archives – Humanities  / Education / Center for Humanities & History of Modern Biology / Exhibits, Projects and Initiatives / Plant Science, Biotechnology, & Agriculture

The Early Days of Biotech on Long Island

As he was developing the science behind Applied Genetic Inc.’s DNA repair cream, Dimericine, Dan Yarosh contacted Errol Friedberg, “a giant in DNA repair” to talk to him about cloning the bacteriophage gene that produced a DNA repair enzyme he wanted to use. Dan relates that Friedberg told him ” ‘I don’t have time to talk about it. We’ll just send it to you, and I want you to write a $500 check to my lab party fund.’ So, he did. He sent me the original cloned T4 endonuclease V in exchange for a contribution to his party fund.” In exchange for beer money, more or less, because Friedberg believed that it wasn’t going to work — and that this type of commercial research made Dan, as the latter put it, “a sell out” in Friedberg’s eyes.

AGI

Plants need nitrogen to grow, but a significant portion of the nitrogen in fertilizers is not absorbed by the soil or used by the growing plants. Rather, it washes away into waterways, rivers, and the ocean. This in turn has had devastating effects on marine life. In some areas, excessive nitrogen in the oceans has caused algae blooms that kill wildlife, make it dangerous for people to consume fish or shellfish or in some cases even swim in affected waters. This problem isn’t limited to poorer countries. Nitrogen pollution is a serious problem here on Long Island. In our case, the nitrogen comes primarily from septic tanks and cesspools, although nitrogen from agricultural fertilizers also plays a role. Nitrogen pollution in the waters around Long Island has hampered fishing, made it dangerous to eat seafood from some areas, and caused environmental changes that make coastal areas more prone to flooding.