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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

What is the best way to help faculty better understand the legal apparatus that protects their discoveries? Organic chemist and former director of the Stony Brook Center for Biotechnology Glenn Prestwich notes that Stony Brook notes that “the tech transfer office at Stony Brook was extremely good, especially with Dick [Koehn]’s influence with the Center for Biotechnology, in getting faculty technologies protected properly with patents and in helping train the faculty how to do that better. When I became center director in ’92, I actually started formal programs with three different law firms on the island and in the city to have our students go and intern at the law firms for six months and learn patent law. In fact, three of my former PhDs are now patent attorneys.” The science is fundamental, but having an additional structure of legal knowledge in place is also crucial for the process from idea to company. And, as Glenn’s comment suggests, sometimes biology or chemistry PhDs become fascinated enough by the legal side that that is where they find their professional home.

Prestwich / Stony Brook Center for Biotechnology and Pam Ancona

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.