Scientists develop first-of-its-kind method that could completely transform how we manage cattle: 'It's completely out of the box'

Changing the cattle microbiome could change the world, which is what this group of researchers is counting on.

The University of California at Davis and Innovative Genomics Institute are working to engineer the ruminants' stomachs so they don't produce the potent planet-warming gas methane, as The Washington Post detailed.

Because two cows emit as much methane as an average car, the animals are responsible for 4% of global pollution every year. Methane is 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in the heating of Earth and accounts for 30% of rising global temperatures, the Post reported.

The $30 million project is funded for seven years. With more than 1 billion cattle on the planet, most of them roaming in open pastures, the undertaking is a huge — and necessary — one.

"I personally think this is the one that can make the biggest impact in the world," IGI executive director Brad Ringeisen said. "Say you could wave a magic wand and eliminate all those emissions."

But the road ahead is unknown, as much of the workings of a cow's stomach are a mystery. Scientists have proved that feeding cattle seaweed, oregano, or garlic can reduce methane emissions by up to 80%. 

It's not possible, however, to feed more than 10% of U.S. cattle every day, so these gene editors hope to create a probiotic pill that could be given to the bovines when they are vaccinated early in life.

"We want to trigger a permanent change," UC Davis animal science professor Matthias Hess told the Post.

The rumen, the largest of four chambers in a cow's stomach, digests food by fermentation, with microbes "do[ing] all the work," as the Post put it.

"Bacteria break down sugars into fatty acids, which provide energy for the cow, and two byproducts: hydrogen and carbon dioxide," Shannon Osaka and Emily Wright wrote. "Archaea gobble up H2 and CO2 and combine them into methane, or CH4.

"The cow burps methane out into the atmosphere, warming the planet and helping spur heat waves, flooding, and powerful storms."

So, changing the microbiome would drastically reduce the impact of livestock on global heating and its effects. The miniature ecosystems, though, have evolved over millions of years, and breaking down the parts and processes involved is like doing 100 jigsaw puzzles at the same time, as IGI head of microbiome modeling Spencer Diamond described it, per the Post.

The scientists believe they could alter the system so duodenibacillus instead of archaea consume the hydrogen. Instead of methane, they would turn it into more energy. The key is to give the bacteria a little push so they can outcompete the archaea. 

Farmers and ranchers would likely not be on board without other benefits, such as if these altered energy pathways helped the animals produce more meat or milk, Ermias Kebreab, another UC Davis animal science professor, said to the Post.

Testing trials could begin in two years. Ringeisen — who called this "a solvable problem" — also told the newspaper that the learnings could be applied to other animals and maybe even Arctic permafrost to reduce all kinds of methane emissions.

"It's completely out of the box," Kebreab said. "Nobody has done it before."

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