New Breeding Technology
Since legalization, researchers have been looking for ways to apply New Breeding Technology (NBT) to cannabis in ways that make it a more sustainable commercial crop by mitigating issues and stabilizing plants grown from seed.
Among them is CanBeed, an Israeli Cannabis genetics company, that, in 2020, was the first to be granted a commercial license to use CRISPR gene-editing technology in cannabis and has since been developing a platform of desirable agronomic traits for commercial cannabis.
Not only is the company working with CRISPR, but they've also spent the last 5 years developing genetic lines to create true F1 hybrids from 2 unrelated, homozygous parents.
We sat down with Yarden Dloomy, Head of Sales & Business Development, and Dr. Tal Sherman, CTO and Co-Founder of CanBreed, to learn more about what they are working on and where they see the future of cannabis seeds heading.
CanBreed: "Better" Cannabis Seeds
As mentioned, CanBreed is a science-based cannabis seeds and genetics company working on "cultivars developed for mass-scale cultivation" that has a farm in Israel, as well as research partnerships with institutions such as the University of Jerusalem.
A subsidiary of BetterSeeds, known for their CRISPR work with other crops such as peas and tomatoes, CanBreed launched in 2017 but quickly realized that they could not immediately dive into working with CRISPR in cannabis due to the lack of stable genetics available.
Rather than spend time editing unstable varieties that may or may not carry the expression intended, the group spent the next 3 years developing homozygous CBD & THC parental lines. Through 7 generations of breeding, CanBreed's team was able to create two homozygous parent lines and breed truly unique, stable F1 hybrids.
By June 2020, CanBreed had stable genetic lines that could now be experimented with and edited using CRISPR, and the YieldMax™ cannabis gene-editing platform was created.
CanBreed does not have to introduce any foreign DNA to the plant; CRISPR relies on the use of already identified naturally-occurring mutations that can then be replicated in Cannabis through gene editing. YieldMax is their way of mimicking these mutations, silencing certain genes responsible for undesirable traits such as susceptibility to pathogens or specific cannabinoid profiles.
After 5 years of research, the first seeds were shipped: hemp seeds made their way to the USA, and cannabis seeds were sent to Canada.
F1 Hybrids & CRISPR: PM-Resistant & THC-Free Seeds
CanBreed is focused on 3 primary offerings: F1 Hybrids seeds (bred through conventional breeding methods), CRISPR Cannabis & Hemp Seeds (bred using gene-edited varieties), and a Diagnostic Kit for growers to help with labeling issues in the grow.
The group is beginning to roll out access to their lines of F1 Hybrids in markets like Canada, South Africa and Portugal.
Additionally, the first two CRISPR lines, PM-resistant cannabis seeds and Low-THC hemp seeds, are currently in development and testing.
The former solves a major issue that can cost outdoor cultivators their crops in all climates, and the latter addresses the cannabinoid-producing needs of hemp farmers to avoid "hot" hemp that tests above allowable limits.
Dr. Sherman says that they are leaning into research done on crops like barley that date back to the 1980s, but that the limitations that exist in cannabis research are also a limiting factor in the genetic research they are working on.
"In the 80s, a mutation in barley was identified. And this mutation didn't allow the fungal pathogen to enter the cell...They identified the gene that was mutated. And this gene, you can find it in almost every agricultural crop...but it's not that easy [to apply to other plants]," begins Dr. Sherman.
"One way to use CRISPR is to find a gene in the literature and you know this gene will give you Trait X. But that's in tomato, and now you want to start working on cucumber. You can't make a cross because tomato and cucumber won't cross. But if you know the gene, if you know how to take CRISPR and use it, you can target CRISPR to that specific gene in cucumber, get the mutation. And hopefully you will have the same trait in your cucumber now."
The Future of Cannabis Seeds
While CRISPR has been allowed (and even awarded a Nobel Prize) in most developed countries, it was included among other novel foods and GMOs that were prohibited in Europe until recently. At the beginning of this year the European Union supreme court ruled CRISPR to be excluded from the EU GMO classification.
This has opened up a large potential market for seeds such as CanBreed's, and the group believes that there will be a wide variety of applications in the global cannabis industry.
These future uses could include improved agronomic traits such as adapting the plant's structure for easier mechanized harvesting and adapting a plant's cultivation needs for specific climates, as well as allowing for specific cannabinoid profiles needed for standardizing raw materials for use in medical and pharmaceutical applications.
Dr. Sherman says that crop protection and uniformity are among the biggest priorities for commercial producers, and believes that tools like CRISPR help us get to a future where mass-scale cannabis cultivation will be done from seed, a view echoed by Dloomy.
"No question about it...It's not about CanBreed. [The market converting to seeds] is gonna happen. CanBreed with other companies will make this change. Do you really think in 3, 4, 5 years we're still relying on clones? No...The work, the labor is so expensive, the vigor is not there, and above all the problem of inconsistency [in addition to] the pathogen [susceptibility]."
We agree, and look forward to seeing how these new tools help growers feel more confident growing from seed.
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This article is featured in Vol. 6 of The ETHOS Magazine.
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