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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 are the criteria for the success or failure of a biotech company? Is it remaining on Long Island? Growth? Successful acquisition by a larger corporation? Bob Franza notes that the ultimate fate of Protein Databases, Inc. was that it “ultimately got sold, and so it wasn’t a failure in that sense.” PDI’s president and CEO Steve Blose explains that after the company’s acquisition by Bio-Rad Laboratories in California, “we continued to commercialize the technology with faster scanners, better software, and to keep it in the market. It was a real help because they had an international distribution system. Our small company just didn’t have that.”

PDI

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.