Alex Adrian 1/9/10
Chemistry Current Events
Rare Breeds, Frozen in Time
By Barry Estabrook
This intriguing article brings to the surface a new way to save the breeds of animals that are dying off. The SFV method to maintaining a steady growth of near-extinct farm animals is that the scientists freeze embryos of the animals in a freezer about the size of a washing machine. The purpose of this is to conserve the breed before it is too late. These embryos are then thawed out and embedded in a surrogate mother. The baby animal will be born; with no problems or disabilities and Chip is the breathing proof. Chip is a rare fainting goat from Tennessee that has a beard and an impressive pair of horns. The SFV was the foundation that brought Chip into the world and many other animals. This heritage livestock preservation facility helps make these animals lives happen and these animals do not ever end up on a cabob. The SFV organization is the only one in the country that’s main goal is to conserve rare heritage livestock breeds through a process of freezing semen and embryos. This technique is called cryopreservation. On Chips long journey to the earth he spent his first six days in his mothers embryo and then he was flushed from her womb and spent a few months frozen in the freezers. He was then thawed and transplanted into his surrogate mother who was not of the same species, but a common breed called a Nubian doe. Chip was born a normal fainting goat. Some say that the creatures born at the SFV center are misfits but these special animals are anything but. They are the last of their kind that are very necessary in sustaining these breeds. The animals are not bred for the company to make money off of them by selling their meat;these animals live a normal, healthy life on a farm eating nothing but grass in a pasture. Dr. George Saperstein, who is the foundation’s chief scientific adviser said, “Think of this as a safety valve program.” The doctor meant that the SFV program would be the savior of the generations if there was ever a famine in the livestock industry because the frozen embryos would come into play. In California in 2006, there was a heat wave that wiped out 16,500 cows and the farmers could not do anything to stop it. Livestock was wiped away, and the farms were producing little to nothing. Programs like SFV are hopefully going to sprout up in more parts of the US enabling the US to keep our precious animals living for as long as possible. These animals do contribute to our everyday lives because just like any other goat, Chip produces milk, which is then sold. His milk is no different than any other goat’s milk, which further proves that these animals are not being genetically altered. They are being born when their mothers cannot have enough babies in her lifespan.
This article was clearly written and the format of the article was perfect. I would read about background information first and then read more about the program called SFV that was helpful because I had never heard of the organization. A good amount of supporting details helped me better understand the article. To improve the article a few more examples could have been included but from the article I became aware of the situation that arose recently. Lastly, the amount of proof was perfect because I could see that the article was completely true and that the SFV is a fabulous program that is greatly needed in the US. The company is a nonprofit organization that needs to gain more awareness and contributions of America can help us save our dying-off animals!
Sources:
Estabrook, Barry. "Rare Breeds, Frozen in Time." The New York Times 5 Jan. 2010,
science ed.: n. pag. Web. 9 Jan. 2010.
This was a terrific article review by Alex. She clearly stated the important reasons about how the SFV save the rare livestock. She also explained in simple steps how exactly the SFV are restoring the rare animals. Also, Alex explained the reasons about why these animals are important, and how they are so easily killed. The only correction I can think of is that in some areas of explanation, there was a little too much detail which confused me. Also, I would like to know if there are more organizations other than the SFV that are working on this issue. Overall this was a fantastic article review that makes me want to learn more about this issue and how we can help!
ReplyDeleteJanuary 11, 2010
ReplyDeleteArticle Review
Chris Marasco
The review of the article, “Rare Breeds, Frozen in Time”, by Barry Estabrook was interesting and enlightening. The information on saving breeds of animals in danger of dying off was well presented. The reader was able to understand the SFV methods used to preserve animals in danger of becoming extinct. The story of Chip, the Tennessee goat added a clear example of the experiments success and the importance of scientific research and how it can contribute to improving our everyday lives.
At first I was a bit confused as to what SFV represented, it might have been a good idea to define it at the beginning of the article review. I also found the article to be a little long and feel it could have been a bit shorter.
Overall, the review of “Rare Breeds, Frozen in Time”, was informative and I learned a lot about an important scientific procedure that helps save breeds of animals in danger of dying off.
The article “Rare Breeds Frozen in Time” is about the SVF Foundation’s efforts to preserve endangered animals by freezing embryos and then embedding them in a surrogate mother. This method is called cryopreservation. The animal is then born without complications. Chip, a fainting goat, was the first animal born in this way. He was born in 2004 normally and is now an everyday fainting goat. This technique is being used to prevent farmed animals from being farmed to extinction. This technique hopes to preserve heritage brands. The article was interesting and timely. The subject matter was well summarized and relatively easy to understand. I appreciated the warnings about our current animal farming rates, because I had no idea factory farming conditions had gotten so poor.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I found the review too wordy at times. I also would have liked to know how this seemingly expensive program was funded.
This article is very relevant, because this program may help prevent the extinction of endangered animal species using the cryopreservation process. Perhaps the SFV’s technology can prevent valuable animals from becoming extinct.
Alex did a very good job on her article review. I think the topic is very important and interesting because it could help save whole spices of animals. Alex also did a god job reviewing the whole article with lots of details in a clear way. I also likes that she pointed out SFV is not being used for profit but to help the planet. To improve this I think Alex could have taken out some unneeded detail that just confused things. Also she could have told us more about the organization behind sfv and how it works. I think this is very important because it gives us a look into the future where animal species don’t go extinct because of poachers of loss of territories.
ReplyDelete