The tobacco being used here is an Australian wild tobacco species, not your regular smoking tobacco. I have no idea about the nicotine levels in this plant. Basically, they spliced in the genes for making THCA Synthase (THCAS - the enzyme that changes CBGA into THCA. THCA can then be changed into THC. ) The tobacco plant apparently changed the THCAS into a slightly different form than what the cannabis plant makes, but close enough. They are thinking of building on this first step to get around the "no cannabis" laws and still get cheap, plant-created cannabinoids. Subcellular localization defines modification and production of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid synthase in transiently transformed Nicotiana benthamiana. (abst – 2018) Subcellular localization defines modification and production of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid synthase in transiently transformed Nicotiana bentha... - PubMed - NCBI Abstract OBJECTIVE: Through heterologous expression of the tetrahydrocannabinolic acid synthase (THCAS) coding sequence from Cannabis sativa L. in Nicotiana benthamiana, we evaluated a transient plant-based expression system for the production of enzymes involved in cannabinoid biosynthesis. RESULTS: Thcas was modularized according to the GoldenBraid grammar and its expression tested upon alternative subcellular localization of the encoded catalyst with and without fusion to a fluorescent protein. THCAS was detected only when ER targeting was used; cytosolic and plastidal localization resulted in no detectable protein. Moreover, THCAS seems to be glycosylated in N. benthamiana, suggesting that this modification might have an influence on the stability of the protein. Activity assays with cannabigerolic acid as a substrate showed that the recombinant enzyme produced not only THCA (123 ± 12 fkat g FW-1 activity towards THCA production) but also cannabichromenic acid (CBCA; 31 ± 2.6 fkat g FW-1 activity towards CBCA production). CONCLUSION: Nicotiana benthamiana is a suitable host for the generation of cannabinoid producing enzymes. To attain whole pathway integration, careful analysis of subcellular localization is necessary. Granny
They are thinking of building on this first step to get around the "no cannabis" laws and still get cheap, plant-created cannabinoids.
If they ever decide to splice the gene into a smoke friendly strain (gold dollar ,harrow velvet ,Virginia gold, etc ) and could make a new tobacco plant that was close or very similar to the high of cannabis, id say thats a legal game changer.. And a new industry one day lol
Ahh. I wonder if they can provide the variety of cannabinoids that cannabis can. I personally don't care for the isolated compound, I prefer the full spectrum of cannabinoids. Regardless, this could help move the issue forward in our favor! Sent from my VS985 4G using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Good question, Norse! The last sentence "To attain whole pathway integration, careful analysis of subcellular localization is necessary." says to me that they are still a very long way from figuring it all out. They have "step 1" out of "heaven only knows" how many "GMO"ing steps to get to just THC! Our little cannabis plant is a "wizard" at creating all these fantastic cannabinoids, not to mention the various kinds of terpines, flavinoids, etc that can modify the cannabinoid's effects! I think they will focus on single cannabinoid GMOs simply because to get the whole cannabis spectrum would take 100s, if not 1000s, of genetic modifications. To say the least, a complicated job! But, "we don't need to reinvent the wheel!" I believe cannabis will be legalized years before the scientists get to their goal of a non-cannabis, THC-producing plant! (How about all of you get out there and do a little activism to speed things along? Doesn't have to be much- maybe make a few intelligent comments in a cannabis-related news article? Write a polite, logical, pro-legalization letter to a politician? Send $4.20 to your favorite legalization group?) Granny
My form of activism...I always dreamed of the campaign in all prohibition states thats left to just sow seeds everywhere on 420 and just let it grow and see what happens town ta town ...nobody would notice probably til it started blooming anyways.. And just see what happens.. The sheer labor alone to confiscate every little waist high plant off all the "public property only!" Roadways and other clever or funny spots where its harmonig nothing would be near impossible to completely confiscate.. And would really show how childish it is by even the law enforcement officials themselves having to work day in and out toiling away more as completely waistful farmers than cops and it would just push legalization once it hit the news.. It could work maybe ha
I saw a UK documentary where cannabis seeds were placed in inflated balloons and released by boat. Lots of controversy in Great Britain. They didn't mention what the severity of enforcement was like. My guess is that they don't have businesses built on the prison industry. You have to know that people arrested for marijuana would make great non violent prisoners. The complexity of issues surrounding legalization is the US seems like a big machine built on business and the "war on drugs". If we could get back all the dollars spent on a failed and fake war, the US would not be in financial trouble.
Neal, unless you used "feminized" seeds, every cannabis grower for miles around would HATE you for ruining their seedless cannabis crop! But have you ever heard of Kenaf? It is a member of the hibiscus family (so it can't pollinate cannabis), and some types look VERY much like cannabis, until they bloom! Planting kenaf is 100% legal, too. Same results, but no laws broken, so it is safer for you. You can find the seeds online, just make sure you are getting the kind that looks like cannabis- some types have heart-shaped leaves. Here's how convincing kenaf is- Lawsuit: Couple arrested after hibiscus plants mistaken for marijuana (and they have the wrong type of hibiscus in the article's photo) This is kenaf- Granny
Ah... Just float em up..And let em be sewn wherever the inland wind takes them.. Good idea though.. My thoughts are just public property or commercial properties so no one person would be liable at all like if a patch starts blooming at a park or welcome to "insert town name " town or county sign.. One could be very creative with that lol
Well if its a public funding then allow the bulk seeds for said campaign to be 100 percent femininized .. Because yeah that plant is close and would be a funny prank.. It needs to be real I think to get the message because the laws and penalties are all too real for people that go through it
Well, this was a public event in GB, so anyone prosecuted would have an easy defense. Lol I loved it, balloons with seeds all over London! This was a Netflix documentary, fun an informative on the struggle for legalization in the UK.
Nice.. Yeah thats awesome.. Id like it growing seemingly wild down long stretches of interstates, state highways, county roads,back roads, and any other public paths of travel.. Lol it would get message across as the near impossible 24/7 confiscation process began when in flowering it gets passers by attention and they only got maybe month or two before bud is everywhere for anybody who is paying attention to it around fall.. Lol
This sounds all fine and dandy until the lawmakers - ie: The Man decides to just outlaw the specific cannibanoids no matter what plant it comes from or is simply synthesized. J
Cannabis smoke condensate II: influence of tobacco on tetrahydrocannabinol levels. - PubMed - NCBI "We have found that tobacco increases the amount of THC inhaled per gram of cannabis from 32.70 +/- 2.29 mg/g for a 100% cannabis cigarette to 58.90 +/- 2.30 mg/g for a 25% cannabis cigarette. This indicates that tobacco increases the vaporization efficiency of THC by as much as 45% under the conditions tested." If this study about tobacco increasing the vaporization efficiency of THC by as much as 45% is true, then we smoking that gmo tobacco would get you higher than normal weed.