Genetic Modification of Cannabis

[zamalito]

Maybe I'm missing something but I don't understand how non-transgenic gm can be done without mapping at least a portion of the genome.

And still noone has told me how non-transgenic gm can accomplish anything that genome mapping and seed selection through genetic tesing cannot. The problem with non-transgenic gm is that it's very nature allows corporations to patent desirable traits as part of a naturally ocurring genepool. Where if the genome is fully mapped and made public domain before this occurs the patenting isn't possible. After the genome is fully mapped the time and money saved by nontransgenic gm becomes less or maybe nonexistant.

 

[pipeline]

It can accomplish the same thing in a shorter time frame by directly manipulating genes, instead of using sex to create individuals with those traits.

An example of non-tansgenic gm that couldn't be done with simple selection of genes would be altering regulating sequences of DNA (promoters, enhancers, operons) to change when, where, to what extenct the gene (open reading frame) is expressed into protein.

 

[pipeline]

The patenting problem is a problem of law, not so much the technology itself.

 

[mriko]

IMHO the real problem are the corporations who use GM technologies to their own end.... GM has always been marketed to the populace as a means of improving products (crops) to the benefit of the end user, or farmer. However, to this pojnt the only real people benefiting from commercial GM crops are those producing them; the corporations. People need to learn to tease apart the science and techniques that agri-corps use, and the intent and goals of those corporations themselves.

Very good point Chimera.

I personally think it's silly to ignore the enourmous potential GM cannabis can offer both farmers and consumers, donerectly.

Let's first use cannabis to its full potential, then we'll probably discover that the plant doesn't need any genetic "improvement".

However, I also think this threat is much less real than the danger posed to the genepool by seed-hack-for-dollar mentality that is pervasively held by the vast majority of jokers in the industry today

I don't know, I think that beside eradication campaigns which year after year chomp in the cake, greatest danger comes from all the bloody ass holes who introduce western commercial strains into traditionnal producing countries, such as it happens in Himachal Pradesh or Morocco.

Irie !

 

[zamalito]

Did you guys know that gm has claimed its first human casualty this year? They found patented transgenic dna in the cancer cells. The idea that horizontally transferred dna is the same as regular dna is completely false. It has to be first optimized for the horizontal transfer. This allows the dna to also be picked up by bacteria and viruses. This is why the terminator seed could've wiped out the plant population of the planet. Doesn't that sound scary to anyone but me?

 

[pipeline]

"Let's first use cannabis to its full potential, then we'll probably discover that the plant doesn't need any genetic "improvement"."

Every developed nation besides the US has a hemp industry. Every nation on earth grows medicinal cannabis. What else is there to do?

Check out this link: http://www.gmo-safety.eu/en/wood/poplar/325.docu.html

China is planting 3000 acres of female clones of transgenic poplar trees producing the bt toxin in a reforestation effort.

 

[Daytripper]

I worked for years in a molecular genetics lab, and I've never heard the term "alien gene"- sounds like something the Media would use. I wouldn't consider it an accepted academic term, mind you. Transgene, inserted construct, or transgenic construct perhaps?


Corporate GM of cannabis has not occured to my knowledge, however academic GM of cannabis (hemp) has been a fait de complit for a few years at least.... we discussed ad nauseum a few years back on OG, with much the same result.


-Chimera

19,900 research papers using the term "alien gene".
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=alien+gene&hl=en&lr=&btnG=Search


Heres a link to the first, 1993 is the date, only 16 years old.

Recent advances in alien gene transfer in wheat
http://scholar.google.com/url?sa=U&q=http://www.springerlink.com/index/W320348P7R2JM111.pdf

 

[zamalito]

Did you guys know a pig and an elephant's dna just won't splice? Haven't you heard the loverboy song?

 

[Guest]

anything is possible

It is possible to manipulate the genetic structure of cannabis through genetic engineering techniques to enhance certain favourable traits. For example it may be possible to create a more potent strain, or a higher yielding one or to enhance the expression of genes which control trichome production, or terepine production. Or traits such a stretch could be manipulated, etc.

The purpose of this thread is to discuss opinions relating to the genetic manipulation of cannabis. Is it right to do this if one had the opportunity. Is the risk of "infecting" the genepool too great? Or is this an inevitable progression for cannabis breeding in the future?

 

[mriko]

Every nation on earth grows medicinal cannabis

eh ? Then I live on a different one than yours... There's no medicinal grow op here in France I can guarantee. And someone growing its own for medicinal purpose can't be eqaulled to a nation growing too. Even though a lot of people are growing for medicinal purpose, the knowledge about medicinal properties is still pretty low compared to what is left to learn. There are soooo many different phenotypes around the wolrd with different ratio of active compounds and properties that it will take long long time before we have discovered all secrets of cannabis.

Every developed nation besides the US has a hemp industry

But in many it is a dwarf industry, which exploits only a fraction of cannabis potential.

China is planting 3000 acres of female clones of transgenic poplar trees producing the bt toxin in a reforestation effort.

Can't compare this with cannabis as the poplar lines that are used produce no pollen that winds can take several hundresd or thousands kilometers away.

Irie !

 

[Daytripper]

There are soooo many different phenotypes around the wolrd with different ratio of active compounds and properties that it will take long long time before we have discovered all secrets of cannabis.

But in many it is a dwarf industry, which exploits only a fraction of cannabis potential. Irie !

One secret is cbd has potential for antianxiety. 300 mg of cbd ( from hemp ) can reduce anxiety equal to 10 mg of diazepam ( valium) but with no interference with motor skills or intoxication. Tests were done in mental hospitals on very disturbed patients.

No one knows the full potential of cannabis.

Cannabis is a sacred life enhancing plant.

When this modern world has run its course cannabis will save whats left of the human race.

 

[- ezra -]

Thanks everyone for chiming in and posting your thoughts. Pipeline, Chimera, Zamalito and others. I think it has been an interesting discussion so far. The anti GM weed mob seems to be convincingly winning in the opinion poll, but a lot of the pro GM arguments in the thread are very strong.

300 mg of cbd ( from hemp ) can reduce anxiety equal to 10 mg of diazepam ( valium) but with no interference with motor skills or intoxication. Tests were done in mental hospitals on very disturbed patients.

Daytripper - that is very interesting information. (a tad off topic but still very relevant I think) What is your source?

- Ez

 

[zamalito]

Did you know that sustainable agriculture has had much better benefits for third world agriculture than gm products?

Some 8.98 million farmers have adopted sustainable agriculture practices on 28.92 million hectares in Asia, Latin America and Africa. Reliable data from 89 projects show higher productivity and yields: 50-100% increase in yield for rainfed crops, and 5-10% for irrigated crops. Top successes include Burkina Faso, which turned a cereal deficit of 644 kg per year to an annual surplus of 153 kg; Ethiopia, where 12 500 households enjoyed 60% increase in crop yields; and Honduras and Guatemala, where 45 000 families increased yields from 400-600 kg/ha to 2 000-2 500 kg/ha.

Long-term studies in industrialised countries show yields for organic comparable to conventional agriculture, and sometimes higher.

 

[- ezra -]

Did you know that sustainable agriculture has had much better benefits for third world agriculture than gm products?

I dont doubt that at all Zam. Sustainable agricultural practice should be the No#1 factor farmers need to satisfy. I think modern technology (including GM crops) are seen and used by farmers as a shortcut to success. Of course the success can only be temporary, and eventualy the crops will inevitably decline unless sustainable methods are employed.

I dont think however that GM crops must necessarily be mutually exclusive to sustainable agriculture. Imagine the benefits of both combined. Not an easy task I agree and there is a long way to go specially in terms of the sustainable agricultire, but I think eventually the tide must turn, that is if human civilisation is to persist in the future.

- Ez

 

[zamalito]

Gm crops have cost the united states 12 billion dollars in farm sunsidies, failed crops, and recalls from contemination of transgenic dna into different species contaminating ecosystems.

 

[Daytripper]

I couldn't find the first report I read the other day but here is one I came across today. There were literaly hundreds of papers on this subject. CBD also has been proven to destroy tumors by shutting off the blood supply to the tumor. There are way too many uses for cannabis to list here and its off topic.

Thats why I'm against GM of cannabis, the full potential has not even begun to be explored. Man has already proven he does not know enough to safetly use GM.

Cannabidiol, a Cannabis sativa constituent, as an antipsychotic drug:

To evaluate a possible anxiolytic effect of CBD in humans, a double-blind study was conducted on healthy volunteers submitted to a simulation of the public speaking test. CBD (300 mg, po) was compared to ipsapirone (5 mg), diazepam (10 mg) or placebo. The results showed that both CBD and the two other anxiolytic compounds attenuated the anxiety induced by the test (26).

The anxiolytic-like effect of CBD in healthy volunteers was also observed in a more recent double-blind study that investigated its effects on regional cerebral blood flow by single-photon emission computed tomography. Because the procedure, by itself, can be interpreted as an anxiogenic situation, it permits the evaluation of anxiolytic drugs.



CBD induced a clear anxiolytic effect and a pattern of cerebral activity compatible with an anxiolytic activity (27).

Therefore, similar to the data obtained in animal models, results from studies on healthy volunteers have strongly suggested an anxiolytic-like effect of CBD.

http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0100-879X2006000400001

 

[subfloral]

I haven't been online for a few days, shouldn't post when I'm drinking. I let myself get fired up over comments that were made. People have always been mistrusting of new technologies, and new technologies don't always have the best track record at first. We haven't mastered the art of genetic manipulation yet, but I would be willing to bet that we will. I think partly from natural fears, mistrust, media portrayal, books, and movies people have got this bastardized version in their heads of what genetic engineering is all about. They view scientists as evil, cold, and calous.... puppets of their funding entities. I think this is unfair. Just to beat an old horse, when you are selectively breeding you are indirectly modifying the alleles of that organism, genetic modification doesn't exclusively mean genetic engineering. Many many organisms modify their environment in some way or another. We have been modifying nature since we've been here, and we will continue until we are gone. Technology builds on technology until we are here. Nothing has changed in our history essentially. We just have better tools and a more complex understanding of the world around us.
I don't see anything wrong with any kind of genetic modification. Transforming microorganisms with foreign DNA has been invaluable to modern understanding of cellular pathways. I am currently working for a researcher who is studying a certain group of plant hormones, and he has me transform transgenic E. coli regularly. I don't see anything morally wrong with that. The only reason I grouped fear of GM to gay marriage and stem-cell research is because I see same community of people coming out against them. Not so much the GM but the gay marriage and stem-cell research issues.. a state not too far away from my home state recently had referendums to ban both of them and they both passed. Anyways, I am out, and to whom I owe it to: sorry for being immature. I have a tendency to get like that when I'm drinking, so from now on... no posting after drinking.

 

[Sam_Skunkman]

I have no problems with gay marriage, or stem-cell research. And I feel that using molecular biology to better understand the Cannabis genome is a great idea. But I feel the information gained should be used to breed better Cannabis using Classical breeding methods.
BTW, GM Cannabis was developed to be resistant to Botrytris cenerea, grey mold, it worked. I have the paper. This is old news.

To all the pro GM-Cannabis folks, do you really want to smoke Cannabis that has had who knows what inserted into it? Do you also realize the folks most likely to use these methods are the DEA funded scientists looking to kill or denature Cannabis, by making pollen that will lower THC to nil.
-SamS

 

[PazVerdeRadical]

... I feel that using molecular biology to better understand the Cannabis genome is a great idea. But I feel the information gained should be used to breed better Cannabis using Classical breeding methods .....Do you also realize the folks most likely to use these methods are the DEA funded scientists looking to kill or denature Cannabis, by making pollen that will lower THC to nil.

that is quite the point: how come in modern science most info dug up from studies, is used in the most ridiculous imaginable ways? sometimes they apply their science in such thickly stupid ways, that it makes you wonder if they aren't doing it on purpose, which they are anyway.

peace.

 

[- ezra -]

Sam - I wouldn't mind more info on that mold resistant GM weed if you have a link or something. Also what is your source on the THC lowering DEA pollen? Any more info on that one? I dont really think this would be a practical approach for the DEA. They would have to do massive pollen releases all over the country to actually pollenate a significant proportion of crops. And even still the chance that those seeded crops would be used to cross back into the genepool seems slim, and furthermore with all the cuts people are holding and offshore breeding programs it is very likely such a program would be an excersize in futility.
BTW Sam - massive respect man. thanks for stopping by.

- Ez