SALT LAKE CITY — Lumen Bioscience was announced Friday as the winner of a $1.5 million prize from the University of Utah to expand its work on reducing methane emissions in the atmosphere — by reducing cow farts.
Jim Roberts, Lumen's co-founder and chief scientific officer, said methane absorbs 10 times more heat than carbon dioxide, which is causing the atmosphere to heat up. "If you have a big impact on the amount of methane that's being produced, then you'll have a very immediate impact on global warming," Roberts said.
"Most science prizes that I'm aware of are given for something that's already happened — either for a discovery that's really important or maybe for a whole body of work over almost a lifetime of a scientist. But here they're awarding a prize for something that hasn't happened yet. It's just a good idea and they want to see if they can help make it happen," Roberts said.
Baki means "eternal" in Turkish. Brandon Schlautman, the Land Institute's lead scientist of perennial legumes, said the intention for the perennial Baki bean is that it doesn't have to be replanted every year as many crops do. As a result, there are no dead plant roots releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.