Scientists seek miracle pill to stop methane from cow burps

A scientist guides a long tube from the mouth to the stomach of Thing 1, a two-month-old calf that is part of a research project aimed at preventing cows from emitting methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.

Paulo de Meo Filho, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California at Davis, is part of an ambitious experiment aimed at developing a pill that would transform cow gut bacteria to release less or no methane.

While the fossil fuel industry and some natural sources emit methane, cattle farming has become a major climate issue because the emissions from cows are so large.

“Almost half of the increase in (global) temperature so far is due to methane,” said Ermias Kebreab, a professor of animal science at UC Davis.

Methane, the second largest contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide, breaks down faster than CO2 but is more potent.

“Methane lives in the atmosphere for about 12 years,” Kebreab said. Unlike carbon dioxide, which persists for centuries.

“If you start reducing methane now, we can see the impact on temperature very quickly.”

Filho uses the tube to extract fluid from Thing 1’s rumen, the first stomach compartment that contains partially digested food.

Using samples of rumen fluid, scientists are studying microbes that convert hydrogen into methane, which is not digested by the cow but is excreted in the gas.

A single cow will burp approximately 220 pounds (100 kilograms) per year.

‘Social creatures’

Thing 1 and other calves are fed a seaweed-supplemented diet to reduce methane production.

Scientists hope to achieve similar results by introducing genetically modified microbes that absorb hydrogen and starve methane-producing bacteria at the source.

However, the team is proceeding cautiously.

“We can’t simply cut off methane production by eliminating methane-producing bacteria,” warned Matthias Hess, who directs the UC Davis laboratory, as hydrogen could build up to the point of harming the animal.

“Microbes are kind of social creatures. They really like to live together,” he said.

“The way they influence and interact with each other affects the overall function of the ecosystem.”

Hess’s students are testing different formulas in bioreactors, which are vessels that reproduce the living conditions of microorganisms in the stomach, from movements to temperature.

More productive cows

The project is being conducted at UC Davis as well as UC Berkeley’s Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI).

IGI scientists are trying to identify the right microbe, which they hope to genetically modify to replace methane-producing microbes.

The modified microorganisms will then be tested in the laboratory and in animals at UC Davis.

“We’re not just trying to reduce methane emissions, but you’re also increasing feed efficiency,” Kebreab said.

“Hydrogen and methane are both energy, and if you reduce that energy and redirect it to something else…we also have better productivity and lower emissions.”

The ultimate goal is a single-dose treatment administered early in life, as most cattle graze freely and do not receive daily supplements.

Three research teams were given $70 million and seven years to achieve a breakthrough.

Kebreab has long worked on sustainable livestock farming practices and opposes calls to reduce meat consumption to save the planet.

While he acknowledged that this could work for healthy adults in developed countries, he pointed to countries such as Indonesia, where the government is trying to increase meat and dairy production because 20 percent of children under five suffer from stunting.

“We can’t tell them not to eat meat,” he said.