The Rothschild lineage is often associated with Jewish tradition, banking, and fantastic wines. But Max Rothschild, a researcher at Iowa State University, is associated with some decidedly nonkosher animals: pigs. And, more recently, shrimp.
When he was about 7 or 8 years old, Rothschild had a different kind of pig — guinea pigs — as pets. His curiosity about their coat colors led to an interest in genetics, and that led to his wanting to become a veterinarian.
So he enrolled at the University of California, Davis, which has a world-renowned vet school. He landed a job cleaning up after pigs, and that convinced him to switch his plans. He went to graduate school in animal science, eventually earning a PhD in animal breeding. He's since become arguably the world's leading pig geneticist, coeditor of The Genetics of the Pig.
"They're fascinating creatures," he says of pigs. "They have large ...
