Cannabis Created in the Lab is the Ultimate Scientific Breakthrough

[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]T[/dropcap]he cannabis that we know is grown and harvested, but that could change very soon! Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) managed to produce the psychoactive compounds found in cannabis entirely in the lab, without any plants involved, reports Business Insider.

This is one of the biggest breakthroughs in the cannabis industry that could have a significant impact on the markets, both legal and illegal. If this experiment is successful in its objectives, then cannabis’ therapeutic components could be restructured into medications for a fraction of the cost associated with harvesting and processing the plant.  

The UC Berkeley researchers were able to create this phenomenon by genetically engineering yeast that can produce the chemical components of cannabis’ two compounds: THC and CBD. Once the components of these compounds were secluded, they were assembled synthetically.

“There could be whole host of new products that could come from this,” UC Berkeley bioengineer Jay Keasling told Business Insider

The compounds are made entirely without the need of any fields or greenhouses, which could be a good thing for the environment as well, given that there is no usage of natural resources such as land and water. Keasling has already licensed the technology he described in the study to a startup he founded in 2015 called Demetrix. He said his team would be open to working with a variety of companies in the pharmaceutical or the food industries.

Jeff Ubersax, Demetrix’s CEO, said that the startup had raised $11 million in venture capital led by Horizon Ventures, a VC firm based in Hong Kong. Horizon has also backed Impossible Foods, the company behind a plant-based burger, and Siri, the developer of Apple’s virtual assistant. “From a scientific perspective, with all the rare cannabinoids we’re going to be able to produce, I think it’s going to be really cool,” Keasling said.