Scientists Are Making THC and CBD Without Marijuana
New research paves the way for cannabinoids without cannabis
As marijuana becomes increasingly mainstream — the legal cannabis market is estimated to reach $166 billion by 2025 — the potential for cannabis to change numerous industries from health to food is great. The future of cannabis may feature production facilities that have more in common with a craft beer brewery than a grow house — and leave out the plant altogether.
In a paper published today in the peer-reviewed journal Nature, biochemists at the University of California, Berkeley report what some cannabis industry experts are describing as a breakthrough in biosynthetic cannabinoid production. By using genetically modified yeast, the Berkeley scientists were able to convert simple sugars into the active chemical compounds in marijuana: tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). The scientists made THC and CBD — the chemicals that get users high and which have supposed medical benefits — without the marijuana plant.
The research could help make these compounds — which are produced in relatively low quantities by the plant — much cheaper and more widely available for medicinal and recreational use, potentially bypassing some of the common constraints for the traditional marijuana market, including…
