Cannabis, the leafy group of plants including marijuana and hemp, is best known for the THC that gets people high.
THC and CBD are abundant, and the Food and Drug Administration has already approved them in some forms. But many other compounds may have therapeutic effects, and not every plant produces every cannabinoid.
This technology could fundamentally alter the way cannabis products are sourced and consumed—and possibly help unlock the plant’s potential as a source of medical therapies, say scientists.
Though questions remain about the efficacy of compounds isolated from the rest of the cannabis plant, the rise of biosynthesis will allow for a purified, consistent study drug, hastening scientific understanding of each compound’s potential toxicities and benefits, cannabis researchers say.
“The marijuana plant has tremendous potential, so the more access we have to the constituents of marijuana, the more we can continue to move the science forward,” says Dr.
A McKinsey analysis from 2020 predicted that this kind of “biomolecule” will soon have an annual global direct economic impact in the trillions of dollars, for industries ranging from agriculture to health to energy production.
Next, they sequence those enzymes to find their DNA, and then insert the genes into a microorganism like yeast, using gene-editing technology such as Crispr or a more traditional technique called homologous recombination.
It is cheaper, more accessible and, without the need for entire fields of cannabis and energy-intensive extraction processes, more sustainable, says UCLA Cannabis Research Initiative founder Dr.
Where THC has a propensity to induce hunger, also known as “the munchies,” THC-V seems to take away appetite, according to early research.
It is very difficult to gain permission to do trials in human beings, and it has been even more difficult to access a variety of cannabinoids from the University of Mississippi, home to the country’s sole legal source of pot for research.
The skin care brand High Beauty sells an acne treatment that contains biosynthetic CBG, which early research suggests has anti-inflammatory properties, at Macy’s.
“It’s a drug that is metabolized, and if it is overdone it will tax on your liver,” Dr.
“I’m still a believer that the whole plant is more therapeutically beneficial than any one cannabinoid by itself,” says Dr.