The SVF Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that seeks to preserve rare breeds

Rare breed (agriculture)

A rare breed is defined as a breed of livestock or poultry that is not common in modern agriculture, though it may have been in the past. Various national and international organizations, such as the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy or the Rare Breeds...

 of livestock

Livestock

Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...

. It is the only private organization in the United States that preserves rare livestock by gathering and storing both semen

Semen

Semen is an organic fluid, also known as seminal fluid, that may contain spermatozoa. It is secreted by the gonads and other sexual organs of male or hermaphroditic animals and can fertilize female ova...

 and embryos of the animals in its collection, a technique called cryopreservation

Cryopreservation

Cryopreservation is a process where cells or whole tissues are preserved by cooling to low sub-zero temperatures, such as 77 K or −196 °C . At these low temperatures, any biological activity, including the biochemical reactions that would lead to cell death, is effectively stopped...

.

History and facilities

SVF, which stands for "Swiss Village Farm", is located in Newport, Rhode Island

Newport, Rhode Island

Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...

 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 in order 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

Biosecurity is a set of preventive measures designed to reduce the risk of transmission of infectious diseases, quarantined pests, invasive alien species, living modified organisms...

 measure.

SVF was founded by Dorrance Hill Hamilton, the billionaire

Billionaire

A billionaire, in countries that use the short scale number naming system, is a person who has a net worth of at least one billion units of a given currency, usually the United States dollar, Euro, or Pound sterling. Forbes magazine updates a complete list of U.S. dollar billionaires around the...

 heir to the Campbell Soup Company

Campbell Soup Company

Campbell Soup Company , also known as Campbell's, is an American producer of canned soups and related products. Campbell's products are sold in 120 countries around the world. It is headquartered in Camden, New Jersey...

 fortune and one of the wealthiest Americans according to Forbes

Forbes

Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...

. The Newport property on which it is housed was built by railroad magnate Arthur Curtiss James in the early 1900s and was purchased by Hamilton in 1998.

Preservation work

Likened to an "animal seed bank

Seedbank

A seedbank stores seeds as a source for planting in case seed reserves elsewhere are destroyed. It is a type of gene bank. The seeds stored may be food crops, or those of rare species to protect biodiversity. The reasons for storing seeds may be varied...

", the foundation had about 45,000 samples of germplasm

Germplasm

A germplasm is a collection of genetic resources for an organism. For plants, the germplasm may be stored as a seed collection or, for trees, in a nursery.-See also:*Germ plasm, the germ cell determining zone...

 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

Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine

The Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine is one of the eight colleges and schools that comprise Tufts University and is the only school of veterinary medicine in New England.-Degree programs:...

 at Tufts University

Tufts University

Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...

, and a Tufts veterinarian

Veterinarian

A veterinary physician, colloquially called a vet, shortened from veterinarian or veterinary surgeon , is a professional who treats disease, disorder and injury in animals....

 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

Fainting goat

A fainting goat is a breed of domestic goat whose muscles freeze for roughly 10 seconds when the goat is startled. Though painless, this generally results in the animal collapsing on its side. The characteristic is caused by a hereditary genetic disorder called myotonia congenita. When startled,...

— by a host mother of a different breed.