Supercow to the rescue! Is global warming solved?
Posted by: Chris Hails in Cattle, Science Add comments
Rearing cattle produces more greenhouse gases than driving cars - that’s a fact (Livestock’s long shadow, UN report 29 November 2006).
A love of cheesburgers therefore not only killed Elvis in his prime, but is highly likely to cause climate chaos in the years ahead. Or maybe not.
Today, scientists have published the cow genome. After 6 years of work by more than 300 researchers, and $53 million in funding, the genetic map of the cow species is now known.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle this means that:
The researchers believe the findings will help improve the quality and safety of beef and dairy products and can be used to develop better ways of treating and preventing diseases that affect cattle.
Surely though as well as being able to breed cows that produce more milk and meat those clever genetic experts will be able to engineer a cow that well, to be blunt, farts less? And less methane is good for the planet given it’s 23 times as warming as CO2.
So given time will supercow be a reality? Or do we all need to start eating a lot less meat? I’m more than happy to sacrifice a few cheeseburgers if it means we don’t all end up eating Soylent Green.
Useless fact of the day - “Cattle and humans have about 80 percent of their genes in common”
