Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos, has provided $9.4 million (€8.7 million) in funding towards a project examining the viability of a methane vaccine designed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the global agriculture sector.
The project is being led by a team of international scientists from a host of international bodies, including, the Pirbright Institute, the Royal Veterinary College, The Spanish National Research Council , and AgResearch.
Bezos Earth Fund granted funding to the research project as part of it’s $10 billion philanthropic commitment, which it’s founder, Jeff Bezos, has dedicated to tackling the effects of climate change.
President of the Bezos Earth Fund, Dr. Andrew Steer said:
“Vaccines have proven to be an incredibly cost-effective way to deliver global health solutions. If we can apply this approach to vaccinate cattle and reduce emissions, the scalability and impact could be phenomenal.
“This grant is a moonshot for proof-of-concept – risky bets like this are essential to tackling the climate crisis.”
Methane vaccine
The project, which assesses the potential efficacy of a vaccine designed to reduce the number and activity of methane producing microbes in a cow’s stomach, predominantly consists of two components.
- Early Development of Immune Response: Researchers will study how and when methane-producing microbes (methanogens) colonize the digestive tract of calves and how the immune system responds in turn.
- Antibody Response and Vaccine Development: Researchers will identify and characterize specific antibodies needed to target these methanogens effectively, in a bid to develop the criteria required of an effective methane vaccine.
According to the Global Methane Hub, reducing methane emissions by 45% this decade could deliver a global cooling effect of approximately 0.3°C by 2040.
Considering livestock produce almost a third of global greenhouse gas emissions, as made evident by the UN Environment Programme, a successful project of this nature could potentially revolutionise the agriculture sector as we know it.
The cross-body international effort aims to provide a viable solution to agriculture’s most harmful byproduct, in a bid to tackle it’s environmental impact on climate.
“Vaccination is a widely accepted farming practice that is auditable and can be used in combination with other strategies, such as chemical inhibition, selection for low methane genetics, or early-life interventions to permanently alter microbiome composition in livestock.
“We’re not developing a methane vaccine per se, but rather defining what a successful vaccine needs to achieve. By understanding the precise antibody responses required, we can provide a clear path forward for vaccine development.
“This approach reduces the trial-and-error aspect and focuses on targeted, high-resolution immunology,” immunogenetics group leader at Pirbright Institute, prof. John Hammond, said.
The team of international researchers say such a proof-of-concept project will enable them to explore the mechanisms required to trigger an immune response in cattle designed to inhibit methane production, helping scientists understand the feasibility of future vaccine delivery.
“We are excited to collaborate with The Pirbright Institute and the Bezos Earth Fund to address this pressing challenge.
“Our teams are recognised leaders in studying methanogen biology and driving approaches to elicit vaccine driven antibody mediated responses in ruminants to limit methanogen growth and methane production,” principal scientist at AgResearch, Dr. Neil Wedlock added.
Agresearch is a New Zealand institute dedicated to agri-innovation and the Pirbright Institute receives funding from the UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, to commission extensive research into viral livestock and human diseases.
