Methane and other greenhouse gasses are heating up the world’s atmosphere, fueling global warming. 18% of those gases come from the burps and farts of the billions of cows in the vast herds feeding the world’s growing appetite for meat. Face it, Earth’s human population isn’t going to go Vegan, and cow-mounted catalytic converters just don’t cut it. What’s to be done?
University of Aberdeen professor John Wallace is trying to breed less-gassy cows. Head of the EU’s Ruminomics Programme, he and colleagues across Europe are investigating bovine genetics, ruminant intestinal microbiota, and alternative cattle feed to mitigate the methane menace of animal enteric emissions and respiration. This an EU project, so it involves selective breeding, not genetic modification.
More:
“Limiting The Greenhouse Gas Impact Of Daisy, Dolly, And Other Animals,” Ben Schiller, Co.Exist
http://www.globalagriculture.org/report-topics/meat.html
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Tags: cattle, Climate Change, genetics, greenhouse gases, gut microbiota, livestock, methane, research, RuminOmics
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