cshllogo_KO_2

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

Proximity to New York City has been both a help and a hindrance for the creation of a biotechnology industry on Long Island. The city can be a source of investors and talent, but Long Island’s image as merely a collection of suburbs can cause companies to overlook the region when searching for a place to invest. Even now, notes Diane Fabel of Stony Brook’s Center for Biotechnology, despite the fact that “the level of sophistication is increasing…when companies want to get a top-shelf IP attorney or corporate attorney, or even talent, like CEO talent, they go into the city….There are venture capitalists for biotech on the island now, [but] they’re not highly visible. We know who they are, but it’s not like [when] you go into the city and you have all of the top-tier venture capital firms.”

Diane Fabel / Stony Brook Center for Biotechnology

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.