“ArkeaBio has spent the past 18 months developing a vaccine to target methane-producing bacteria that live in a cow’s digestive system.

Cows given the prototype vaccine produced 12.9 per cent less methane over a period of 105 days, according to results from a 2023 trial seen by New Scientist, with no adverse side effects or disruption to growth rates.

The trial was conducted in partnership with Texas A&M AgriLife Research, the agricultural agency of the state of Texas. It involved 10 cows, with five acting as a control group and the other five cows receiving a vaccination in the neck, followed by a booster shot 56 days later. The results were presented at the American Society of Animal Science annual meeting in Calgary, Canada, this month.

A second live trial with 14 cows began in June this year and is still ongoing. Early results suggest a methane reduction of at least 13 per cent per cow, with the effects expected to last beyond three months.”

From New Scientist.