posted 09-15-2003 08:33 PM         

DNA Stuff, LLC and its website dnastuff.com are the natural outgrowth of founder Cathy Cyphers Soref’s desire to get more bang for her philanthropic buck. Seven years as a director on the Association Board of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in Cold Spring Harbor, New York persuaded her that there had to be another way to support the brilliant scientists there. “I felt that it was in my own interest to help them spend less time raising money for their basic research and more time actually doing it. After all, their lab work provides the basic science underlying plant genetics and cures for everything from cancer to Alzheimer’s to Parkinson’s Disease.”

Impressed by Paul Newman’s success with his Newman’s Own business model, the after-tax profits from which go to charity, Cathy wondered if it might be applied to a museum shop, the best of which traditionally act as profit centers for the institutions they represent, selling items that both delight and instruct visitors. She created a hybrid of the two, writ small, and in honor of the Lab’s own Nobel Laureate Dr. James Watson, co-discoverer of DNA’s structure, she named it DNA Stuff. Charles Prizzi, Director of Special Events at the Lab, nailed down the website www.dnastuff.com while Cathy commissioned an original line of jewelry (for him and for her) based on variations on the classic double-helix and followed it up with colorful silk ties and scarves imprinted with helices. These are the first items available on the dnastuff.com website.