2.3 The workshops
Three workshops were organised during 2023 and 2024.
Workshop 1: "Conservation of animal genetic resources – Towards conserving Nordic livestock biodiversity"
The first physical workshop (18.-19.4.2023) was organized at NMBU in Ås, Norway. This workshop had 15 invited speakers from 10 countries (Table 3) and 37 registered participants from 12 countries (Figure 3, 4; Table 4,5).
During the workshop, the stakeholders expressed a need to enhance collaboration in common gene banking activities. A few of the main takeaways from the workshop was to further discuss the necessity and desire for gene banking efforts in the Nordics within the NordGen Council for Animal Genetic Resources, the need for characterisation of the Nordic breeds and improved knowledge surrounding the status and future possibilities for transboundary breeds and country collaboration. It was also suggested to develop a “traffic light” system to determine which populations should first be prioritised for ex-situ conservation. For this both characterisation of the breeds, collection of information surrounding currently gene banked breeds and cross-border collaboration was viewed as highly necessary. It was also emphasised that funding opportunities should be investigated.
Table 3. Programme of the physical NordFrost workshop at NMBU in 2023.
Time | Speaker | Title |
|---|---|---|
Tuesday 18 April | ||
09.00–09.40 | Sipke Joost Hiemstra | Opening lecture: |
Centre for Genetic Resources (CGN), Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands | "Livestock gene banks – key element in National and European conservation and research infrastructures" | |
09.40–10.20 | Tullis Matson & Lucy Morgan | |
Nature’s Safe, UK GeminiGenetics, UK (Online presentation) | "Saving animals from extinction: the future of AnGR gene banking" | |
10.20–10.40 | Nina Svartedal | |
Norwegian Genetic Resource, Centre Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), Norway | "How to establish up-to-date monitoring and reporting system for Animal Genetic Resources?" | |
10.40–11.00 | Coffee break | |
11.00–11.40 | Tom Blunt | |
Rare Breeds Survival Trust, UK | "Europe’s native livestock breeds – need to conserve genetic resources" | |
11.40–12.20 | Mafalda Costa & Kirsty Lloyd | |
The Frozen Ark, UK | "CryoArks: challenges and successes of setting up the UK’s first national zoological biobank network" | |
Lunch | ||
13.30–14.10 | Tim Rittinghaus | |
Institute of Multiphase Processes, Leibniz University Hannover, Germany | "Cryotechnology: advances and pitfalls!" | |
14.10–14.40 | Vivi Hunnicke Nielsen | |
Aarhus University, Denmark | "Challenges in efficient use of gene bank material – an example from Danish Landrace-1970 (pigs)" | |
14.40–15.10 | Coffee break | |
15.10–15.50 | Thor Blichfeldt | |
Norwegian Association of Sheep and Goat Breeders (NSG), Norway | "Conservation status of Norwegian sheep and goat breeds" | |
Wednesday 19 April | ||
09.00–09.40 | Maxime Reverchon | |
French Poultry and Aquaculture Breeders Technical Centre, France | "Use of cryopreserved PGCs for the restoration of the complete genetic heritage of poultry breeds" | |
09.40–10.10 | Anna Maria Johansson | |
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden | "Current conservation status of native farm animal breeds in Sweden" | |
10.10–10.30 | Jens Ivan í Gerðinum | |
Faroese Islands Agricultural Agency, Faroe Islands | "Conservation of Faroese horse AnGRs and the future action plans" | |
10.30–10.50 | Juha Kantanen | |
Natural Resource Institute Finland, Finland | "State-of-art ARTs in conservation of Finnish native animal breeds" | |
10.50–11.20 | Coffee break | |
11.20–12.00 | Martin Pšenička | |
University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic | "Conservation of fish genetic resources: application of germ cells" | |
12.00–12.20 | Ian Mayer | |
Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Norway | "Conservation status of wild Atlantic salmon – need for a centralized gene bank" | |
12.20–13.10 | Lunch | |
13.10 – 15.10 | "Round table discussion – need for a Nordic Gene Bank" | |
Table 3. Programme of the physical NordFrost workshop at NMBU in 2023.
Figure 3: Country wise distribution of the speakers participating at workshop 1. Date 18.4.2023. Number of speakers: 15. Number of countries represented: 10.
Organisations that the speakers were representing |
|---|
Aarhus University (AU) |
Centre for Genetic Resources (CGN), Wageningen University |
French Poultry and Aquaculture Breeders Technical Centre |
Institute of Multiphase Processes, Leibniz University Hannover |
Natural Resource Institute Finland (Luke) |
Nature’s Safe, UK |
Norwegian Association of Sheep and Goat Breeders (NSG) |
Norwegian Genetic Resource Centre, Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO) |
Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) |
Rare Breeds Survival Trust, UK |
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) |
The Frozen Ark, UK |
The Agricultural Agency (Faroe Islands) |
University of South Bohemia, Czech Republic |
Table 4: List of organisations and universities that the speakers were representing. Number of speakers: 15. Number of organisations and universities represented: 14.
Figure 4: The country wise distribution of participants in workshop 1. Date: 18.4.2023. Number of registered participants: 37. Number of countries represented: 12.
Participating organisations and universities |
Aarhus University (AU) |
Cardiff University – CryoArks |
Leibniz University |
Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) |
Norwegian Association of Sheep and Goat Breeders (NSG) |
Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO) |
Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) |
Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen) |
Rare Breeds Survival Trust |
Research Associate at the Natural History Museum |
SAVE Denmark |
SpermVital AS |
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) |
SYSAAF |
The Agricultural Agency (Faroe Islands) |
The Estonian University of Life Sciences |
The Genetic Resource Center/ Agricultural University of Iceland |
Wageningen University and Research |
Table 5: Participating organisations and universities in workshop 1. Number of registered participants: 37. Number of organisations and universities represented: 19.
Hands-on workshop 1: "Practical workshop on collection and cryopreservation of epididymal sperm"
After the first physical workshop, the first practical workshop was organised the next day (20.4.2023) at NMBU. Under supervision of NordGen this workshop focused on the collection and cryopreservation of epididymal sperm using a bull as a model. Because the participants attained hands-on experience, the number of participants was limited (maximum 2 representatives from each of the Nordic countries). This first workshop had six participants from four different Nordic countries altogether.
The learning outcomes of the workshop were:
- Collection of testes after castration and slaughter.
- Transportation of testes to laboratory.
- Dissection of epididymides
- Collection of sperm from epididymides.
- Processing of sperm for cryopreservation.
- Freezing and thawing of sperm.
- Evaluation of post-thaw sperm motility and viability using Computer-assisted semen analyser (CASA) and Flow cytometry.
Photo from the first hands-on workshop at NMBU.
Hands-on workshop 2: "Practical workshop on collection and cryopreservation of somatic cell tissue samples for gene banks"
The second practical workshop was organized 3.-4.4.2024 at Luke, Jokioinen, Finland, where the focus was on collection of the somatic cell samples for gene banks. This workshop was organized in collaboration with Tullis Matson (Nature’s SAFE) and Lucy Morgan (UK National Livestock Biobanking). On April 3rd,2024, following introductory lectures the country representatives were offered hands-on experience in the collection and cryopreservation of porcine tissues post-mortem. There was a total of 21 participants from eight countries present (Figure 5). The participants represented nine different organisations/universities (Table 6).
Figure 5: The country wise distribution of participants in workshop 2. Dates: 3-4.4.2024. Number of participants: 21. Number of countries represented: 8.
Participating organisations and universities |
Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) |
Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen) |
Lammasmaailma |
The Estonian University of Life Sciences |
The Genetic Resource Center/ Agricultural University of Iceland |
Faroese Horse Association |
Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) |
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) |
The Danish Agricultural Agency |
Table 6: List of organisations and universities that were represented at the two-day workshop. Number of participants: 21. Number of organisations and universities represented: 9.
The practical workshop was accompanied by presentations from five invited speakers on April 4th, 2024. The goal of the hands-on workshop was to learn new techniques that can be useful for future cryoconservation and to spread this knowledge to interested stakeholders.
The learning outcomes from the workshop were:
- To understand the equipment and infrastructure needed in tissue processing for gene banking.
- To gain practical experience in tissue collection, processing and freezing for long-term gene banking
- Observers acquired theoretical knowledge of the equipment and facilities needed for cryopreservation of tissues.
