New Zealand scientists welcome overseas funding for livestock methane vaccine
The search for a proof-of-concept vaccine that can cut methane emissions in cattle has received a welcome boost.
The Bezos Earth Fund has announced it will fund an international consortium which will build scientific evidence for a vaccine that can reduce the number and activity of methane-producing microbes in a cow’s stomach.
The $USD9.4 million research project will be led by researchers at The Pirbright Institute and the Royal Veterinary College.
AgResearch will add expertise in rumen microbiology and vaccine development to the consortium and receive about a third of the funding allocation.
AgResearch Principal Scientist Neil Wedlock said: “This funding announcement is a welcome boost for methane vaccine research. We are excited to be collaborating with the Pirbright Institute and will provide our research expertise and capability.
“The work will also complement the research we are doing here in New Zealand with the backing of AgriZeroNZ and the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre.”
AgriZeroNZ is setting up a new venture in New Zealand to accelerate development of the vaccine, building on more than 15 years of pioneering science led by AgResearch and funded by the New Zealand government, industry and through the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre.
