Ignacio “Nacho” Pino opens up another bottle of red wine as the sun sets over the city of Mayagüez on the west coast of Puerto Rico. Scientists, sailors, and surfers have congregated on his back porch in the hills for another riotous meeting of Club Yes! where they will share hypotheses and ham recipes, while trying to remain upbeat about the tropical island, which sometimes seems a little too small for their scientific and entrepreneurial ambitions.
Pino’s own path from livestock veterinarian to biotech CEO is emblematic of the Puerto Rican dream—or at least some version of the dream espoused on glossy brochures from government agencies. In the late 1990s, Pino realized that his days vaccinating dairy cattle were numbered as land prices soared and pro-industry policies marginalized agriculture. He sought a middle ground, hunting for transgenic technologies that could give beef and dairy a foothold, and along the way ...
