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By Shashank Kailash Muthuraju
In a groundbreaking study on August 14th, researchers at UC Berkeley found a new way of tracing the origin of methane—a potent greenhouse gas—by gene-hacking microorganisms that release methane. Microbes or methanogens inhabit low-oxygen environments like wetlands and livestock intestines. Scientists used CRISPR to inhibit the function of a crucial enzyme called methyl-coenzyme M reductase (MCR), and they found that environmental stress could dramatically alter the isotopic signature of methane.
Methyl-coenzyme M reductase (MCR)
Traditionally, scientists believed that what food methanogens were consuming—acetate, methanol, or hydrogen—controlled the isotopic nature of the methane produced. This paper proved otherwise and that when MCR is low, the microbes begin consuming hydrogen atoms from water as opposed to their food. This means that there has been a shift in the chemical nature of the methane such that the same microbe produces different characters depending on its location.
The potential is immense. The discovery has the ability to enhance climate models by allowing scientists to more accurately locate methane emissions. It is also a window of opportunity to redesign methanogens to produce biologically valuable compounds instead of methane, offering new possibilities in biotechnology and environmental engineering.
Sources
Sources
Sanders, Robert. “Scientists hack microbes to identify environmental sources of methane.” Berkeley News, 14 August 2025, https://news.berkeley.edu/2025/08/14/scientists-hack-microbes-to-identify-environmental-sources-of-methane/. Accessed 22 August 2025.
“Scientists just found a hidden factor behind Earth's methane surge.” ScienceDaily, 18 August 2025, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/08/250816113528.htm. Accessed 21 August 2025.
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