At present, the heat of the global legal cannabis industry is still rising. In 2018, Canada followed Uruguay to legalize recreational marijuana nationwide, and now Luxembourg, New Zealand, and other countries are also considering it.
Dozens of countries around the world have legalized medical marijuana. In 2019, the hemp and CBD industry became popular, and the industrial hemp industry entered a new application stage.
At the forefront of these legal cannabis industries, DNA sequencing, nano-emulsion technology, blockchain technology, and personalization technology are driving and leading industry change.
DNA sequencing
Different strains of cannabis plants have different levels and ratios of cannabinoids. THC is the hallucinogenic component of marijuana. Recreational marijuana consumers prefer plants with high THC content. In countries where recreational marijuana is illegal, THC higher than 0.5% will be eradicated as a drug.
CBD is all the rage in 2019, and growers are chasing plants with high CBD content. At present, the CBD content of some cannabis plants can reach more than 20%, and some are only 1%. The difference is huge, and the economic value is also very different.
In addition to THC and CBD, cannabis plants also contain hundreds of cannabinoids such as CBG, CBC, and CBN, as well as other trace elements. These ingredients have their medicinal value, is there a way to control the number of specific cannabinoids in plants? Is there a way to get specific cannabinoids without growing marijuana?
Several leading cannabis cultivation companies are now conducting DNA sequencing of different cannabis plants, mapping the clear steps in which the cannabis plant produces various chemicals.
A Colorado-based company claims to have used CRISPR gene editing to create plants completely free of THC or CBD that are even easier to grow. In addition, they found enzymes in plants that produce rare cannabinoids, including CBC.
The ultimate goal of this technology is to extract the genes that produce these chemicals and insert these genes into yeast or bacteria so that these cannabinoids can be obtained in large quantities without growing cannabis.
Nano-emulsion technology
Today, CBD is widely added to food, beverages, health products, medicines, cosmetics, pet food and other fields, and more and more fast-moving consumer goods companies have begun to add CBD as an ingredient.
However, CBD extracted from plants is soluble in oil but not in the water, and because the human body is made up of 60% water, it means that it is not easily absorbed by the blood. After CBD enters the human body, more than 90% may be excreted from the body and cannot function, and the bioavailability is low.
Using “nano-emulsification technology” to make water-soluble CBD is the way people solve this problem. Nano-emulsified CBD can be compatible with water and added to beverages, which can solve production problems and improve the bioavailability of CBD.
But nano-emulsified CBD also has some potential adverse risks, including DNA damage, cytotoxicity, and the risk of immune system reactions; nanoparticles can accumulate in organs, with the risk of causing other health problems.
At present, there are four ways to prepare water-soluble CBD internationally: adding emulsifiers, water-based phytoremediation technology, micellization, and glycosylation.
Blockchain technology
Using blockchain technology, the data on cannabis cultivation, cultivation, growth, processing and consumption can be tracked and recorded. Consumers can know the details of their purchase of cannabis products to ensure that their products are safe and reliable, not from unknown sources.
The cannabis blockchain can provide participants with various information such as production, consumption, and logistics. Based on this information, developers can provide participants with a detailed and personalized analysis. Industry data is more transparent and more conducive to the development of the industry.
In July 2019, Zenabis Global, a Canadian medicinal and recreational cannabis grower announced that the company will use the StrainSecure platform (blockchain technology platform) to collect, register, manage, track and release.
In August 2019, Shoppers Drug Mart, Canada’s largest daily necessities chain, announced the completion of the first phase of the blockchain technology pilot project, and in November, their second phase was completed and began to fully implement the TrueTrace StrainSecure platform (blockchain technology platform).
Personalized customization technology
The cannabis plant contains hundreds of cannabinoids, as well as many terpenes and other components. People use cannabis to improve their health for various reasons such as epilepsy, pain, insomnia, etc. What strain is best? What ratio of THC to CBD is best for results?
CannabisDNA’s research found that each person’s genes are different, and the body and nervous system respond differently to cannabis ingredients, which means that the choice of cannabis product depends on the individual’s genetic profile.
CannabisDNA uses unique algorithms that analyze an individual’s genetic profile, test information on how an individual metabolizes cannabinoids, and calculate the susceptibility of cannabis to regulate health conditions to identify the most appropriate cannabis product for consumers. Currently, the genetic test is primarily used by physicians who prescribe marijuana to patients and by adult recreational marijuana consumers
