The Pirbright Institute announced in August 2024 that a “global quest” to cut methane emissions in cattle through vaccination is supported by $9.4 million from the Bezos Earth Fund. The effort will be led by The Pirbright Institute and the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) and comprises international experts seeking to “build scientific evidence” for a vaccine that can “reduce the number and activity of methane-producing microbes in a cow’s stomach”. The UN Environment Programme suggests that livestock emissions account for “roughly 32%” of human-caused global methane emissions.
Reducing methane emissions
The Global Methane Hub states that “reducing methane by 45% is crucial” to reducing warming by 0.3 degrees Celsius by 2040, which would put us on a “path to a healthy future”. As livestock contributes nearly half of all food system emissions, a cattle vaccine that could reduce their methane emissions would “significantly advance” efforts to reduce greenhouse gas.
Working with AgResearch, the consortium will spend three years building on the Global Methane Hub’s work identifying knowledge and technical gaps hindering progress in the development of methanogen vaccines. The proof-of-concept project will enable the team to explore the mechanisms for antibody-driven inhibition of methanogen growth, establish the number and characteristics of methanogen antigens that trigger an immune response, and understand the number and antigen binding strength of antibodies.
Vaccines on the farm
Professor John Hammond is Director of Research at The Pirbright Institute and emphasises the need for “low frequency interventions” to cut global methane emissions by 30%.
“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.”
Principal Scientist, AgResearch, Dr Neil Wedlock, is “excited to collaborate” with colleagues 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.”
Dr Andrew Steer, President and CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund states that “vaccines have proven to be an incredibly cost-effeective 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.”
Professor of Molecular Immunology at the RVC, Dirk Werling, is “extremely proud of being part of this project”. Professor Werling reflects that it “brings together colleagues working in different fields of animal health in a very unique way”.
“I believe that the funding we obtained from Bezos Earth Fund will enable us to perform research on a topic which affects us all, global warming, but in a way that both animals and humans benefit from it.”
Animal health returns to the agenda for the Congress in Barcelona this October, welcoming experts from The Pirbright Institute. Get your tickets to join discussions about animal vaccines and don’t forget to subscribe to our weekly newsletters here.
