As the marijuana legalization movement wins ground, a group of scientists is mapping the genetic structure of weed to protect the biodiversity of cannabis from corporate interests.
A recent report by ATTN: sheds a light on the risks of multinational agrochemical corporations such as Monsanto, which might be tempted to capitalize on legal marijuana by securing exclusive patents on select strains.
Monsanto denies allegations of genetically modified weed
Monsanto, which has been widely criticized for its approach to genetically modified organisms (GMOs), released a statement in response to gossip about its interest in pot, stating that it “has not and is not working on GMO marijuana,” calling the allegation an “Internet rumor” and a “lie”.
For now, it is only guesswork, but this didn’t stop a team of researchers at Phylos Bioscience from launching the Cannabis Evolution Project last year. The objective? Mapping the history of Cannabis evolution, “from thousands of years ago in Central Asia to the pharmacy shelves of the 1930s, to the last few decades of breeding in California and Holland”.
Untangling the evolutionary past of weed
Researchers are sequencing the genomes of thousands of different varieties of Cannabis plants and collecting samples of “every single modern hybrid strain available.”
Phylos Bioscience will be offering genetic strain certification through its partner labs soon. This will allow small growers with “incredible plants” to protect themselves from the risk of being modified and monopolized. At the same time, an online data visualization tool will help ganja lovers locate their plants, by tracing their ancestry and seeing how they compare to their relatives.
No Fairtrade mark on drugs
However, the fear that marijuana may be genetically modified has already come true. Police in Mexico have arrested a gang of Colombians and Mexicans for growing genetically modified pot in three gigantic greenhouses covering 20,000sq ft. A total of 7,000 ‘mother plants’ of marijuana were being genetically modified and cloned. The gangsters were involved in much more than simple selective breeding.
In a recent article published in The Guardian, Jay Rayner argues that part of the problem these days is that, although Millennials are being extra careful about buying ethically produced food, very few are interested in knowing where the narcotics they consume actually come from.
The writer provocatively asks if those urban hipsters who love the hashtag #eatclean apply the same standards to their grass and coke.
Does it matter to twentysomethings if the drug “was produced by impoverished, subjugated Bolivian peasants”, or in the words of novelist Don Winslow, if the marijuana they buy “has blood all over it”? Now, it is legitimate to wonder: would anyone mind if weed was genetically modified?
Share your views in the comments section below.
What other genetically modified things are you putting into your body? Use the Pavlok to rid yourself of them all:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh73AjBjCN0
Scientists Are Against Genetically Modified Weed
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