Genetic Research has gone to pot

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Genetic research has gone to pot

 

By Christine McConville

Thursday, August 18, 2011

 

A Marblehead biotechnology company has cracked the code on cannabis, and will roll out the first-ever sequencing of the entire pot genome today.

 

Weed may be better known as the stuff of Cheech and Chong comedies and finger-wagging flicks such as “Reefer Madness.” But the genetic mapping of Mary Jane is serious business, conducted by Medicinal Genomics in a joint effort with pharmaceutical giant Roche, and is sure to stoke the flames of the medical marijuana fire.

 

Yesterday, Medicinal Genomics founder Kevin McKernan told The Pulse that the potentially huge medicinal herb industry could use this data to offer cancer patients and others in constant pain new, better kinds of curative cannabis scientifically designed to target their specific conditions.

 

 

“We’re out to measure the plant, at a genetic level, so we can put a label on it,” a hopeful McKernan told The Pulse yesterday. “We’ll be able to tell people, ‘This has this much (cannabidiol) and a couple of other compounds as well.’ ”

 

First, though, there needs to be some federal consensus on the health benefits of ganja.

 

So far, 16 states — Massachusetts is not one of them — have legalized prescription pot.

 

But the federal government remains a total buzzkill on the issue, and there is no regulatory oversight of an industry that some analysts say could reach $45 billion a year in the United States alone. McKernan says his company, which has a satellite office in Amsterdam, has the data to create a well-regulated system of dosages — now only loosely defined by terms ranging from “bong hit” to “bogart.”

 

McKernan said the Drug Enforcement Agency “says we need more data, and we’re saying, ‘Let’s start actively looking at medical qualities of this. Let’s do everything we can to understand the qualities of this drug.’ ”

 

The new genome sequencing will play a big role in that.

 

Before Medicinal Genomics completed its sequencing, the National Center for Biotechnology Information had a seemingly gnarly 2 million bases of cannabis sequence in its database. But with this new information, the bank will contain a mind-blowing 131 billion bases of cannabis’ components.

 

Apart from its traditional recreational uses, cannabis may have great potential for managing pain, curbing anxiety and depression, and even battling cancer, some researchers say. Others believe medical marijuana advocates are just potheads, looking for a legal way to grow and sell contraband. But McKernan says that after all his research into cannabis, he’s convinced prescription pot supporters aren’t just blowing smoke.

 

“There’s real potential there,” he said.

 

Source: https://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1359648&srvc=rss

 

 

(pas le temps pour le traduire désolé mais je le post quand meme au cas ou ca intéresserait quelqu'un )

[mrpolo 7 743]

Merci beaucoup

 

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