Timing makes a difference in how a given location experiences a biotech boom. Jim Hayward, currently of Applied DNA Sciences, worked in the UK in the 1980s, and found that the differences between the US...
Sometimes it takes a dramatic success story to bring a university into biotech. Jim Hayward, currently of Applied DNA Sciences, describes how Barry Coller of the Department of Hematology at Stony Brook developed “what was...
Many scientists in fields with biomedical applications describe a point in their education where they considered medicine as a potential career path. For those who ultimately decided to pursue a PhD instead, the reasons for...
Many biologists who ended up involved in biotechnology considered medicine as a potential career. Future researchers decide against going to medical school for all kinds of reasons. For Jerry Yin, formerly affiliated with CSHL and...
In the context of his work for CSHL spin-off Helicon Pharmaceuticals, which was developing a drug to enhance memory, Jerry Yin notes that “looking for a drug that enhances memory is a marathon. It’s not...
From the point of view of a university or research institution, the financial appeal of a successful biotech company is obvious. But there are other potential benefits as well. Molecular biologist Jerry Yin, formerly of...
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.