Canadians (Of Course) Map out Cannabis Genome

Researchers figure out the genetic sequences that led to one magical plant spawning both hemp and marijuana.

Two Canadian scientists have mapped out the genome of Cannabis sativa, the plant that gives us the twin wonders of hemp and marijuana. Jon Page of the University of Saskatchewan and Tim Hughes of the University of Toronto sequenced the genetic code of two strains of sativa, Purple Kush, a popular (and potent) strain of marijuana, and finola, a kind of hemp. The two undertook the task to figure out how hemp and marijuana arose from the same species of plant, and why tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, the chemical that gets you high as a kite, appears only in marijuana and not hemp. They concluded that farmers, probably in China, India, or Afghanistan, figured out the plant's two magical abilities (making rope, getting stoned) and began selective breeding more than 2,000 years ago once they noticed that the female plants had the medicinal properties while males did not. Their research indicates that somewhere along the way, the gene essential to making THC was switched off in hemp plants. With the genome now figured out, the pair hope new marijuana-based painkillers can be developed without the high, although we've always sort of missed the point of that.