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Bill Gates Donates $40 Million for Genetic Research on Cows

posted by Fnord666 on Thursday February 01 2018, @10:33PM   Printer-friendly
from the more-methane-production dept.

takyon writes:

Bill Gates has donated $40 million to Scottish researchers trying to create a cow that can thrive in hotter conditions, such as those in Africa:

Tweaking genes could be one way of increasing the hardiness of some livestock breeds. By isolating desirable genetics traits from European and African cow breeds, geneticists hope to design a cow that produces high quantities of milk and is also able to withstand exceptionally high temperatures.

An Edinburgh-based nonprofit, GALVmed (Global Alliance for Livestock Veterinary Medicines) just received $40 million from Bill Gates to conduct genetic research with this aim in mind. "You can have a cow that is four times as productive with the same survivability," Gates told the Times.

The philanthropist told the BBC that he was investing in the nonprofit's research because "there is great [...] understanding here of both animal diseases and how we can treat it, and how we enhance the genetics so that you can get, say the same type of milk or egg productivity that we have in the U.K."

Related: Bill Gates Commits $100 Million to Alzheimer's Research
Bill Gates Invests $80 Million in Arizona "Smart City"
Bill Gates Looks to Immunotherapy to Help Control All Infectious Diseases

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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by takyon on Friday February 02 2018, @12:47AM (3 children)

    by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Friday February 02 2018, @12:47AM (#631799) Journal

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nguni_cattle [wikipedia.org]

    Origins

    The ancestors of Nguni cattle were brought by the Nguni people, Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele and Swazi people, during their migration to southern Africa between 600 and 1400 AD. Since then, these animals have played an important social and economic role in the development of these societies and are used as a bride's dowry. The number of animals held by a village or individual determined much of their importance to the rest of the world.

    African Indigenous Cattle: Unique Genetic Resources in a Rapidly Changing World [nih.gov]

    Securing the future of cattle production in Africa [nottingham.ac.uk]

    The genome landscape of indigenous African cattle [biomedcentral.com]

    Cash cows: Why investors are buying pregnant cattle [cnn.com]

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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 02 2018, @12:55AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 02 2018, @12:55AM (#631804)

    Then why not use those "pre-modified for africa" cows? Is it because they are not patentable?

  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by captain normal on Friday February 02 2018, @05:04AM

    by captain normal (2205) on Friday February 02 2018, @05:04AM (#631891)

    Uh...Mr Gates, I already know the answer. There is a bovine that can thrive in temps up to 115 F (46 C), can eat scrub grasses and only needs a little bit of water. It's called the White Face Hereford. People have been raising them for many years in hot places like West Texas, New Mexico and Mexico. The cows produce very good milk and the Steers (young bulls that have had their balls removed) provide wonderful meat.
    You can just donate a small portion of the $40 M to my favorite charity: Elderly Captain's Retirement and Cruising Fund.

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