Dive Brief:
- Scientists have moved a barley gene into rice to create to produce a new variety that reduces methane emissions, but that it is still starchy, according to a study.
- Previous research had demonstrated that plants with smaller roots produced less greenhouse gases. Scientists sought to accomplish this so that plants focused less of their energy on sustaining their roots and more on producing hearty grains.
- After testing their new rice stalks, they found that the stalks emit 10% less methane than traditional rice.
Dive Insight:
The genetically modified rice variety provides "a tremendous opportunity for more-sustainable rice cultivation," Paul Bodelier, a microbial ecologist at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology, wrote in an essay.
If the new variety of rice is made available to rice growers, methane emissions could decrease. This is momentous becuase methane can be 84 times stronger than carbon dioxide over the course of 20 years, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Before introducing it to the market, scientists are still conducting research to understand how exactly rice plays a role in methane emissions. They are looking to understand how rice paddies and not just the plant alone proudces emissions. It is likely that the the new variety's rice is not as nutritional as conventional rice. In doing so, they also want to understand how introducing genetically engineered pollen can affect the environment.