

ARS Hosts International Conference on
Preserving Boar SemenBy Tara
Weaver-Missick August 6, 1999Scientists from around the world will
meet next week to discuss critical research findings and technological
innovations in boar (male swine) semen preservation at the
Fourth
International Conference on Boar Semen Preservation, Aug. 8-11, in
Beltsville, Md. The Agricultural Research Service,
the chief scientific agency of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, is hosting the conference. ARS is also one of
four major sponsors of the event. The conference was initiated in 1985 when Kjell Larsson of Sweden and animal
physiologist Lawrence A. Johnson, head of ARS
Germplasm and Gamete
Physiology Laboratory in Beltsville, organized the first meeting in
Uppsala, Sweden. It is generally held every five years. The purpose is to
stimulate thinking, research and applications of principles regarding semen
preservation and swine artificial insemination worldwide. Scientists,
practitioners, and technicians attend the conference to discuss topics
concerning swine reproduction. The conference will include 25 oral presentations from leading scientists in
the field of swine reproduction. Topics covered include gamete interaction, in
vitro semen evaluation, freezing boar semen, and current status of artificial
insemination usage worldwide. The meeting also will offer more than 50 poster
presentations. A highlight of the evening program will be a presentation by Professor
E.J.C. Polge, now retired from the University
of Cambridge, United Kingdom. Polge has been in the forefront of livestock
semen and embryo preservation research for the past 50 years and was the first
to successfully freeze bovine semen in 1949. Johnson is chairman of the conference organizing committee. He and his
colleague, animal physiologist John R. Dobrinsky, will present research
developments in the Emerging Technologies for the Next Millennium
session. Johnson will present new developments in sex preselection for swine,
while Dobrinsky will present his recent work on a successful method to preserve
swine embryos. Scientific contact: Lawrence A.
Johnson, ARS Germplasm and Gamete
Physiology Laboratory, Beltsville, Md., phone (301) 504-8545, fax (301)
504-5123, [email protected]. U.S. Department of Agriculture | |