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	Related Links SVF Foundation The SVF Foundation has its own Web site with extensive information about the program, along with descriptions and pictures of the farm animals it seeks to protect. The site also contains links to related programs around the country. National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation The federal government operates a large-scale program to preserve genetic materials of animal livestock. The work is performed by a section of the US Department of Agriculture and is based in Fort Collins, Colorado. Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine The scientific work of the Newport rare-livestock preservation program is being overseen by the nationally known veterinary school of Tufts University, located in North Grafton, Massachusetts. The school's work is described on its Web site, which includes a biography of Dr. George Saperstein, the Tufts professor who directs the science work of the SVF farm in Newport.

At the same time, the breeds have become extremely homogeneous, Saperstein says. For instance, 95 percent of US milk comes from black-and-white Holstein cows; and within those nine million cows, genetically speaking, there are only about 30 individuals. The "delicacy" and uniform nature of the breeds create potential problems. What happens if a disease sweeps through a herd or flock with uniform genetic characteristics? Or, in the post-9/11 era, what is the danger from a terrorist assault?

The rare breeds, on the other hand, are environmental survivors, some hardy enough to live on their own. They are disappearing now only because they have gone out of favor commercially, maintained in small numbers by hobbyists and collectors with a soft spot for them. To Saperstein and other experts, the rare livestock represent a genetic "library" that might contain valuable information for the future.

"The one thing in common to all the breeds we are collecting is that they have not been improved by humans," Saperstein says. "They are more or less the same genetics as when they were raised by Thomas Jefferson."

IS IT PRACTICAL?

The issue is how the older breeds can help in a present or future emergency.

Saperstein himself doubts that re-establishing the older herds will be the answer, since their lack of efficiency as food or fiber producers explains why they have gone out of favor. UConn’s Professor Zinn questions whether the genetic properties of the rare breeds will necessarily solve disease or other problems, because not enough is known about their make-up.

"We do not know if these rare breeds were immune to BSE [bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad-cow disease]," he says. "We certainly don’t know if any animals had the disease and [were] undiagnosed — versus being immune." Zinn isn’t opposed to the Newport operation, although he would spend his own money on advancing current livestock — by speeding up lamb production, for instance.

But other experts say that qualities hidden within the rare animals could become much clearer as science rapidly develops its understanding of an animal’s genetic blueprint or genome. Alfonso Torres, associate dean for veterinary public policy at Cornell University — formerly the nation’s chief veterinary officer at the US Department of Agriculture — says that as science advances, technicians may be able select out helpful traits. "There will be a possibility, a scientific possibility, of making animals resistant to diseases by extracting the genetic materials from animals that are resistant to those diseases, and transferring them to other animals," Torres says.

Richard C. Rhodes III, associate dean of the College of the Environment and Life Sciences at the University of Rhode Island, says, "The effort of SVF is absolutely on target." He adds, "If everything did go to hell in a hand basket, it would be of great value to know where you select from, to make sure that that characteristic which you value would be re-introduced."

The federal government has been collecting and storing germplasm since 1999 at the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation, a USDA operation in the community of Fort Collins, Colorado. Harvey D. Blackburn, the center’s coordinator, says it has enough material to restore entire commercial breeds — although such a process might take several years. Blackburn has visited the Newport operation, and gives it high marks, saying the USDA facility holds some germplasm produced by SVF.

Saperstein, the SVF science director and Tufts expert, agrees that science is not yet easily able to pin down disease resistance and other traits. What’s important, he says, is to preserve as much diversity as possible. "It’s not our job to direct how these resources will be used," Saperstein says. "It’s our job to both preserve and conserve these resources so that people in the future have them available, should they be needed."

Just how much this will cost over the 20 years of the project, or even how much Dorrance Hamilton already has spent, remains unclear.

George W. Moore, one of three SVF trustees, won’t say. "We typically don’t like to talk about the budget," Moore says. "We don’t like that to be the focus of these types of projects that Mrs. Hamilton privately funded. That is really not her interest, in kind of showing her generosity."

The latest public federal-tax form required of charitable operations dates to 2003 and lists SVF’s assets at slightly under $10 million, with expenses that year of about $2.5 million, including $450,000 paid to Tufts.

Saperstein says that even for a philanthropist like Hamilton, the Newport project is remarkable. "If I were Mrs. Hamilton, I would look at this project as my legacy, as my gift to mankind," he says. "How many people can say that they have created a program that’s a gift to humanity? Maybe I’m misspeaking, but I think this is a crowning achievement for anyone."