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Scientists Find The Gene That Produces THC




In one of the few scientific developments likely to interest both the Governor of North Dakota and Method Man, scientists at the University of Minnesota have identified the genes in cannabis that allow the plant to produce THC. Finding the genes opens the path to either create drug-free hemp plants for industrial purposes, or to develop plants with much higher concentrations of the psychotropic chemical.

Publishing in the Journal of Experimental Botany, the researchers note that they specifically targeted the genes responsible for generating the drug-filled hairs highlighted in many a High Times photo spread. By impairing or encouraging the growth of those hairs, scientists could gain precise control over the level of THC in the crop.

This development has important consequences for both the medicinal and industrial use of hemp.

On the industrial side, states like North Dakota have been looking to change state law to allow them to raise hemp as a cash crop, for oil and rope production. The ability to create hemp that doesn't contain any banned substances would allow Dakotans to sow the crop without any changes in the law.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, precise control of the doses of THC found in pot could greatly enhance the medicinal marijuana industry. Currently, dosage is controlled through haphazard breeding and selection, not precise measurements as with most other medications.

It should also be noted that THC is not the only psychoactive compound found in marijuana, so more research is needed before the University of Minnesota scientists can completely control the potency of their crops.

Finally, how this new discovery will affect the pizza delivery business remains to be seen.

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cantSEEme

i have mixed feelings about this. while nice if just thinking about increase in potency, it could also be used as a "weapon" to fight marijuana (propagation of plants with no thc as the article stated), although i dont think it would really do much to curb psychoactive cannabis. also, there are other substances in cannabis that effects the high as well like cbd's. plus gene manipulation (not including natural genetic breeding) on something that imo mother nature already perfected... meh.

also, by "hairs", i hope this research is referring to trichomes and not the pistils. bigger/smaller pistils wont make pot more/less potent, pistils are basically pollen catchers. secondly, this quote...

i find to be stretching the truth. breeders grow out huge crops to find specific phenos exhibiting the traits they would like to keep, and backcrossing can go on for years (great breeders take years to fine tune a new genetic cross to market). even if its possible to up the thc count in a strain , genetic diversity will still be present in it's offspring, so growing from seed would still produce varying phenotypes, although, in general the thc percentage would increase throughout the lineage, ideally you would still have to find the "right" pheno out of several plants that would display the traits you were looking for (the max. increased thc % in this case), unless of course the strain itself was stabilized, which involves a great deal of time and effort like i mentioned.

The Rev

I have nothing to add except that that is a bowl I would love to smoke (or just stick my nose in and breathe deeply).



The Rev

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Mafoo

wait wait wait, i thought the hairs did not contain thc?

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PLUR
For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return

verklingen

'sfar's i know that's correct

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SpankyMcLankey

This is 10x more funny than it already is since that's my job...

osirus2020

Can they inject me with this gene?

Haha that must a be a killer awesome job.

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ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

SpankyMcLankey

dude, it is. I make $15/hr average and it's so easy. It's nice to be able to go just drive while working. Like just taking two pizzas takes a half hour, so work goes by quick too. Also it's another half hour you don't have to deal with your idiot co-workers or managers, and some days you're hardly ever in the store. surprisingly I haven't smoked much while working though, only have like twice.

Geeno

if weed were legal, pizza guys would distribute it. theoretahypothetical ly

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Mafoo

that would make alot of sense wouldnt it.

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PLUR
For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return

catastrophe

Minnesota !!!!!

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RIP Gov

“To see a world in a grain of sand, And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, And eternity in an hour.”

Xil

Is that really the gene that produces THC or just a manipulator of areas of the plant that deal in its production. The implications are different..

Either way, goods and evils go with it. But science marches on, lets take the positive and fuck the negative

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Xil

Also its kind of sad that this is a political rather than scientific development. what does that really say about or society? It says that its fucked up and our stupid bullshit is more than our collective advancement

fuck

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OldMan&TheWeed

Yea.

This makes me question the entire article.

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stonerkid

down with GMO weed!

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