Genebank for animal resources
The Centre for Genetic Resources, the Netherlands (CGN) manages genebank collections of cattle, pigs, horses, sheep, goats, dogs, chickens, pigeons, ducks, geese and rabbits. It covers both rare Dutch breeds and breeds that play a vital role in global food production. CGN conserves over 350,000 doses of sperm in liquid nitrogen at -196° Celsius, and stores embryos, oocytes and DNA.
Gene bank objectives
- Securing the genetic diversity of rare breeds and more common breeds
- Using genetic material to support rare breed breeding programmes
- Providing insurance for calamities such as the loss of breeds due to animal disease
- Making material available for research and genetic characterisation
The animal genebank is a unique source of genetic diversity for breeding and research
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Recent news
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Farming crops and livestock together - opportunities for biodiversity-positive food production
- Intercropping is considered to be a biodiversity-positive alternative to monocultures, but comes with several challenges. Some of these challenges can... -
Endangered European dark bee: in search of the pure colonies
- The Netherlands has only one species of native honeybee: the European dark bee which is found on Texel, among other places. This bee species is... -
CGN assists in sperm extraction of ring-tailed vontsira
- The Centre for Genetic Resources, the Netherlands (CGN) was requested by the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA) to attempt to collect and...