Douglas Campbell, the co-founder of Environmental Proteomics, identified his business niche about six years ago when he failed to find a place to buy the antibodies he needed to study how the environment affects photosynthetic apparatus.

“There was nothing if you wanted to get an antibody against photosystem II or rubisco,” said Campbell’s wife and company co-founder, Amanda Cockshutt. “There was maybe one against rubisco in spinach.”