Hilda might look like an ordinary cow, but her genetic makeup tells a different story. Her DNA has been altered to reduce the release of harmful greenhouse gases when she burps or exhales. This breakthrough, hailed as a “hugely significant milestone” for the UK dairy industry, was achieved through in vitro fertilization, with the goal of creating a new, environmentally friendly breed of cattle that emits significantly less methane.
Cows are notorious for producing large amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas that is 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide in warming the atmosphere. With cattle accounting for roughly 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, scientists have been working tirelessly to minimize their environmental impact. Thanks to in vitro fertilization, the process of breeding low-methane-emission cattle has been accelerated, allowing Hilda to be born eight months earlier than would have been possible through traditional breeding methods.
Hilda is part of the Langhill herd in Dumfries, which has been a cornerstone of agricultural research for over 50 years. She is also a key figure in the Cool Cows project, an initiative focused on selectively breeding cattle to reduce methane emissions. To create Hilda, researchers collected eggs from her mother and fertilized them in the lab with sperm from specially selected bulls. The resulting embryo was then implanted in her mother.
“As global demand for dairy products continues to rise, sustainable livestock farming has become increasingly critical,” explained Richard Dewhurst from Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), a project partner.
“Hilda’s birth represents a potentially transformative moment for the UK dairy industry,” Dewhurst added. “We are combining a new genomic evaluation method with existing indices for environmental and production efficiency to identify elite heifers that are highly efficient in terms of methane output. The Cool Cows project will produce more offspring from these selected cattle, rapidly establishing a core population of methane-efficient calves.”
The Langhill herd, founded in the early 1970s, plays a central role in the Langhill Selection Experiment, the world’s longest-running livestock genetics study. Over the years, the herd has been instrumental in research on dairy-related greenhouse gas emissions, exploring topics like dietary influences and the effects of various fertilizers on grazing land.
Rob Simmons from Paragon Veterinary Group, another partner in the project, emphasized the critical role of genetic improvements in methane efficiency.
“Enhancing the methane efficiency of dairy cows is essential to ensuring the continued production of nutritious food while mitigating the environmental impact of methane emissions,” he said. “This advancement is key to building a more sustainable future for the dairy industry.”
