The Israeli medical cannabis company Tikun-Olam Cannbit said it has developed Cannabis Genetic Fingerprinting (CGF technology) - a system to identify and track cannabis strains based on their genetic codes.
The company said the goal of the CGF technology is to set a standard in terms of strain identification, leading to greater genetic stability and the reduction of variance ranges in the active ingredients of cannabis plants.
The system can also improve the registration process for cannabis strains, thus better protecting intellectual property rights. That would help regulators around the world grappling with issues such as plant variety rights, patents and brands, Tikun-Olam said, noting that the CGF technology could also play a role in seed bank management.
Simple leaf samples for the CGF technology are required
The technology allows growers to characterize cannabis DNA from plucked leaves without harming the plant. The CGF technology has been in development for about three years and can help producers maintain stability in cannabis operations by detecting contaminated genetics. More than a thousand plants have been tested with the system since it was first developed, the Tikun-Olam company said.
The system diagnoses a variety of unique sequences along the cannabis plant genome, based on a number of successive genetic technologies, and reveals “a biological and all-natural (non-GMO) barcode that accompanies the plant throughout its life cycle and, in some fallen into the final product, ”the company said. To get a genetic fingerprint, producers simply deliver the plant's leaves to a laboratory equipped with CGF technology for analysis.
Is this CGF technology the "holy grail"?
"It is the holy grail of the cannabis world," said geneticist Assaf Shalmon, who developed the system and calls it "the only and exclusive parameter that fully and independently characterizes each cannabis strain." The CGF technology was developed with technical support from the Plant Metabolism Laboratory of the MIGAL Galilee Research Institute in northern Israel.
Currently, the identity of cannabis plants is determined based on biological parameters such as plant height, color, rod diameter, profiles of active components and other properties. But things like lighting, fertilizers and cultivation methods can affect many plant components, as well as moisture, pests, diseases and other factors, the cannabis company Tikun-Olam noted. Israel us.
Clean up the “big mess” with CGF technology
“The poor reliability of these previous methods has resulted in poor plant identification,” the company said. “This, in addition to the accumulation of mutations in the multitude of plants, has led to an accumulation of genetic diversity within the populations of strains, hence a 'big mess' manifesting in 'erosion' and debilitating charges, as well as uniformity and flatness. "
The CGF system is now being scaled up to provide a more cost-effective and faster platform for large-scale deployment. Tikum-Olam said it will offer or market identification services based on CFG technology directly through a related but independent company.
Tikum-Olam Cannbit was created when Cannbit Pharmaceuticals, also from Israel, bought Tikum-Olam in late 2019. It was then noted in the market that the approximately € 33 million ($ 40 million) deal was the largest medical cannabis merger ever involving Israeli companies. Tikum-Olam Cannbit is traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
Sources include HempToday (EN), JPost (EN), PRNewsWire (EN)
