CRISPR Could Revolutionize the Cannabis Industry

https://growersnetwork.org/laboratories/crispr-could-revolutionize-the-cannabis-industry/

Great article by Amna Shamim! I added some content as well, so I’m particularly proud of this piece. :slight_smile:

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I want trichomes the size of marbles!

But, I would settle for some disease resistance…

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If CRISPR edits are the input, just add cheap hardware to monitor and quantify phenotype expression in massively parallel breeding programs for output and repeat!

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Can any @Academic or @ThoughtLeaders on the network comment on the possibility that CRISPR editing of cannabis DNA could lead to unintended negative consequences for human consumption? Is this a possibility? How likely is it? Would human or animal testing be required (ethically or legally) before CRISPR-modified cannabis could be sold for human consumption?

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I believe CRISPR/Cas9 research and technology is essential for the future of cannabis (even though it may not be identified with it’s traditional taxonomic name and/or structure). Not only have all special breeding restrictions (like GMO characterization) been done away with for CRISPR/Cas9 technology for plant breeding, but there are companies on Kickstarter selling bacterial based backyard kits for kids to play with. Even one of the academics (from Berkley, but part of a larger research group) that “discovered CRISPR/Cas9 now says it is too dangerous to release to the public. However this technology is a double edged tool that can do great good in the right circumstance. CRISPR/Cas9 will definitely throw a “curve” at all laws based on current taxonomic terminology and the ignorance that has accumulated. By the way-How are they going to bust somebody for a “stony" carrot (containing CRISPR/Cas9 transferred cannabis genetic components? We might make some super fiber combining cannabis genetic components with something like sunflowers (which produces great quantities of fiber that unfortunately is subject to water damage structurally). This technology is so revolutionary that there is no way of telling what might come from it, especially since it doesn’t need any formal kind of lab setup, and it’s cheap to do. It may be the most revolutionary discovery made so far by humanity. Is it scary?-YES. Is it unavoidable?-YES!-D. Seber

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CRISPR/Cas9 has taken genetic engineering from quite literally a shotgun to a scalpel.

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If restriction enzymes are like a shotgun, then CRISPR/Cas-9 is a sniper rifle.

One of the lines I added. :wink:

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So you did! I skipped that section, I know what CRISPR/Cas9 is. :wink:

I spent a fair amount of time editing Pakistani journals for proper English prior to proposing them to English journals. I have edited at least a dozen of CRISPR articles, fascinating stuff. Amazing things are on the horizon!

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Imagining the early work is trying random edits to figure out which levers to pull through large experiments.
After some clanking around learning to modulate different properties, strains will be composed.
crank it to 11

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The early work was very random – Throw a bunch of colonies into a petri dish after you’ve hit them with restriction enzymes and the sequence you want to add (along with Green Fluorescent Protein), and see which colonies glow in a blacklight and picked up the gene. Very much trial and error, with a fair bit of luck.

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Definitely random but from a distribution with much less variation.
Those colonies wont differ so much

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I’d like to see bamboo-like growth.
Easy to identify fast growth and it’ll pay off in faster iteration while we move toward those marble trichomes.

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Transgenic C4 cannabis could boost yield, growth speed, under normal conditions and tolerate drought better, while eliminating the need for CO2 supplementation.

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changing growth patterns to optimize for indoor?
christmas trees are good for sunlight and wind exposure.

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