The SVF Foundation is a
501(c)(3)
A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...
nonprofit organization that seeks to preserve
rare breeds of
livestock
Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...
. It is the only private organization in the United States that preserves rare livestock by gathering and storing both
semen
Semen, also known as seminal fluid, is an organic bodily fluid created to contain spermatozoa. It is secreted by the gonads (sexual glands) and other sexual organs of male or hermaphroditic animals and can fertilize the female ovum. Semen i ...
and
embryos
An embryo is an initial stage of development of a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male sper ...
of the animals in its collection, a technique called
cryopreservation
Cryo-preservation or cryo-conservation is a process where Organism, organisms, organelles, cell (biology), cells, Biological tissue, tissues, extracellular matrix, Organ (anatomy), organs, or any other biological constructs susceptible to damage ...
.
History and facilities
SVF, which stands for "Swiss Village Farm", is located in
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...
, and has facilities both for housing live herds and for cryopreservation on its 45 acres. Live animals are also available for sale to farmers and ranchers to increase the practical use of rare breeds in modern agriculture. It is not open to the public except for one day a year, as a strict
biosecurity
Biosecurity refers to measures aimed at preventing the introduction and/or spread of harmful organisms (e.g. viruses, bacteria, etc.) to animals and plants in order to minimize the risk of transmission of infectious disease. In agriculture, thes ...
measure.
[
SVF was founded by ]Dorrance Hill Hamilton Dorrance "Dodo" Hill Hamilton (August 16, 1928 – April 18, 2017) was an American heiress of the Campbell Soup fortune and philanthropist who founded the SVF Foundation in Newport, Rhode Island and preserved Hammersmith Farm. She was one of the wea ...
, the billionaire
A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busin ...
heir to the Campbell Soup Company
Campbell Soup Company, trade name, doing business as Campbell's, is an American processed food and snack company. The company is most closely associated with its flagship canned soup products; however, through mergers and acquisitions, it has gro ...
fortune and one of the wealthiest Americans according to ''Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
''. The Newport property on which it is housed was built by railroad magnate Arthur Curtiss James
Arthur Curtiss James (June 1, 1867 – June 4, 1941) was a wealthy speculator in copper mines and railroads.
Early life
He was the son of Daniel Willis James and Ellen S. Curtiss. His grandfather was Daniel James, one of the founders of Phel ...
in the early 1900s and was purchased by Hamilton in 1998.
Preservation work
Likened to an "animal seed bank
A seed bank (also seed banks or seeds bank) stores seeds to preserve genetic diversity; hence it is a type of gene bank. There are many reasons to store seeds. One is to preserve the genes that plant breeders need to increase yield, disease res ...
", the foundation had about 45,000 samples of germplasm
Germplasm are living genetic resources such as seeds or tissues that are maintained for the purpose of animal and plant breeding, preservation, and other research uses. These resources may take the form of seed collections stored in seed banks, tr ...
from sheep, goats, and cattle as of 2010.[
Much of the cryopreservation work at SVF Foundation is accomplished with the help of the ]Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine
The Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine of Tufts University is a graduate school of veterinary medicine, located in North Grafton, Massachusetts. The Cummings School is the only college of veterinary medicine in New England. The school is also ...
at Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...
,[ and a Tufts ]veterinarian
A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...
is the foundation's chief scientist.[ This work began in 1999, and in 2004, the Foundation had its first successful birth of a preserved rare-breed embryo — a Tennessee ]fainting goat
The myotonic goat or Tennessee fainting goat is an American breed of goat. It is characterised by myotonia congenita, a hereditary condition that may cause it to stiffen or fall over when excited or startled.Martin, A. F., Bryant, S. H., & Mandel ...
— by a host mother of a different breed.
See also
* The Livestock Conservancy
The Livestock Conservancy, formerly known as the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) and prior to that, the American Minor Breeds Conservancy, is a nonprofit organization focused on preserving and promoting rare breeds, also known as "h ...
* Ark of Taste
The Ark of Taste is an international catalogue of endangered heritage foods which is maintained by the global Slow Food movement. The Ark is designed to preserve at-risk foods that are sustainably produced, unique in taste, and part of a distinct ...
References
Newport, Rhode Island
Non-profit organizations based in Rhode Island
Livestock
Rare breed conservation
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