Cronos Partners With Ginkgo to Develop Lab-Grown Cannabis

[Weird]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ers-with-ginkgo-to-develop-lab-grown-cannabis

• $122 million deal will genetically engineer cannabinoids
• Approach is ‘going to wipe the floor with farming economics’

why grow marijuana when you can create its most potent molecules in a lab?



Cannabis producer Cronos Group Inc. is partnering with Ginkgo Bioworks Inc. in a $122 million deal to genetically engineer the active compounds in marijuana. Ginkgo, which counts Bayer AG, Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. and Cargill Inc. among its partners, will work with Cronos to identify rare cannabinoids that appear in tiny quantities in the plant, extract the DNA and produce them in a lab. Cronos shares gained as much as 16 percent Tuesday in early trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
It’s like going into “a foot race with a Formula One race car,” Mike Gorenstein, chief executive officer of Toronto-based Cronos, said in a phone interview.

Boston-based Ginkgo, which has a 100,000-square-foot lab in the city, got its start creating scents for the fragrance industry. In a process similar to brewing beer, it takes the DNA code that makes a rose smell like a rose, for example, and transfers it into brewer’s yeast.

“Now when you brew it up in that same brewery, instead of beer coming out, rose oil will come out,” said Jason Kelly, CEO of closely held Ginkgo, who has a PhD in bio-engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “It’s cheaper, it’s not subject to weather conditions, the price isn’t all over the place, it’s not different if you grow it in Morocco or somewhere else, it’s just a much better product.”
The technology’s application to the cannabis industry is clear, said Gorenstein. For example, a compound called tetrahydrocannabivarin, or THCV, acts as an appetite suppressant, potentially offsetting the “munchies” effect of pot. It appears in very small quantities in the cannabis plant, making it difficult and expensive to produce at scale. Using Ginkgo’s technology, pure THCV can be produced in a lab.
“Being able to consistently and efficiently produce high-purity cannabinoids, that’s the holy grail,” Gorsenstein said.
Cronos will give Ginkgo about $22 million to fund research and development, and will issue up to $100 million worth of common shares in tranches as it achieves certain production milestones.
The deal comes after Cronos was hit by short-seller Citron Research, which questioned its valuation, distribution agreements with provinces, limited international sales and its lack of R&D spending. Some analysts dismissed the report, calling it “unfounded and biased.”
Cronos’s shares tumbled 28 percent Thursday before rebounding 8.8 percent to C$12.81 Friday for a market value of C$2.27 billion ($1.74 billion).
“We are in the early innings of a global paradigm shift and our focus is and will continue to be on our business and on creating long-term value,not on short term stock movements and volatility,” spokeswoman Anna Shlimak said in an emailed statement on the stock’s volatility.
Kelly said Ginkgo met with several other cannabis companies and chose Cronos because it treats the industry as a technology venture rather than an agricultural business.
“They hadn’t spent a zillion dollars buying out too many farms. Their focus is to get the right stuff and make it the most efficiently with the highest purity,” he said. “The reality is that brewery economics is going to wipe the floor with farming economics.”

 

[AgentPothead]

Shit is getting interesting.

 

[Gry]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]'like going into a foot race with a Formula One race car.'[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Classic.[/FONT][/FONT]

 

[CosmicGiggle]

..... been waiting, only a matter of time, can't wait to see those genes inserted into a tomato.

 

[PaulieWaulie]

I bought 1K of crono shares a week ago. talk about blind luck. Don't hate me, these guys are doing what they do with or without me. I never put any money into the market and missed a massive 2000% run up, even though I knew what legalization would do. I only invested now because I was tired of feeling like shit everytime I read my news feed of shit exploding. If you cant beat em join em! jk, I am proud to continue the struggle

 

[MJPassion]

Ya definitely can't beat 'em if ya join 'em.


Now to read the linked articles... hehe.

 

[Weird]

I find it cute that mankind thinks the full spectrum meds we evolved to have synergy with will so easily be replaced by sub components thereof


science doesn't understand our physiology and the myriad of potential interactions



the learning curve will act as speed bumps and those meds will not replace the full spectrum experience

 

[OldSchoolGrow]

Crazy stuff right there

 

[MJPassion]

I find it cute that mankind thinks the full spectrum meds we evolved to have synergy with will so easily be replaced by sub components thereof


science doesn't understand our physiology and the myriad of potential interactions

the learning curve will act as speed bumps and those meds will not replace the full spectrum experience

I agree...
Not only will some components be missing...
They WILL be genetically modified, ie, unnatural to this world we live in.

 

[AgentPothead]

They WILL be genetically modified, ie, unnatural to this world we live in.

How come if man does it, it is un-natural? Is not man part of nature? A termite mound is natural. A beaver dam is natural. Constructs of lower animals are considered natural, why are the constructs of a shaved ape suddenly un-natural? Not really to do with the thread sorry, just always wondered why people don't consider themselves part of nature.

 

[Weird]

How come if man does it, it is un-natural? Is not man part of nature? A termite mound is natural. A beaver dam is natural. Constructs of lower animals are considered natural, why are the constructs of a shaved ape suddenly un-natural? Not really to do with the thread sorry, just always wondered why people don't consider themselves part of nature.

the real difference between man made and natural made is not everything man made reconciles itself to nature as well as natural made things


there is a very definitive scientific reason for this and the danger of commercialized modern sciences


they are put into production before they are understood well enough from the point of ecosystem hardiness


for example many agricultural advancements have devastated our natural resources because we did not understand or greed mitigated the fear of unsustainable practices in ecosystems we rely on



there is no excuse for ignorance


in my opinion all the corporations that have lied to humanity about the ecological damage of their profits should be gathered and those individuals involved tried for treason under penalty of death

 

[purplepassion]

They could be a Netflix Facebook level stock as well as canopy growth. If you farmers wanna hold onto your wealth and grow it throw some money at these stocks. Canada is miles ahead of the us and will basically own the industry in 5 years.