Duck
09-19-2005, 07:06 AM
Is this an appropriate forum? I haven't rights to post in news or announcements. :confused:
DNA research uncovers new cannabis strain
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Researchers in the ACT appear to have found a previously unidentified type of cannabis plant which they have dubbed 'rasta'.
There are currently thought to be only two types of cannabis, one prized for its rope-making qualities, the other cultivated for its drug properties.
New Scientist reports that Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) scientists categorised almost 200 cannabis plants according to their DNA.
CIT spokesman Simon Gilmore says he and colleagues at the institute's Centre for Forensic Science appear to have uncovered another sub-species of the plant.
'Rasta' is not dissimilar to the sativa sub-species but New Scientist reports that it contains more THC, certainly more than the indica sub-species that is used for rope-making.
Mr Gilmore says it could be an ancient line they have identified through DNA.
"What we might be uncovering is really an ancient relationship," he said.
"Cannabis has been used a lot by humans in the last few thousand years and while we have a signature that there might have been three different types of cannabis, what could have happened with human cross-breeding [is] that those distinctions could have been lost by now.
"Three different mitochondrial DNA types in the cannabis that's grown these days, it might imply that cannabis had been domesticated on three separate occasions.
"It seems the first use was for food - cannabis seeds are highly nutritious apparently but not all that tasty."
Mr Gilmore says the object of studying 200 plants was to find markers to track the origins of illegal cannabis.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rasta lends its name to a third type of cannabis
NewScientist.com
AS POLICE and dope smokers know, there are two types of cannabis. Cannabis sativa sativa is mainly used to make hemp, while the indica subspecies is prized for its tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content, which produces the "high". But now Australian researchers have discovered a third type of cannabis, called rasta.
Simon Gilmore of the Canberra Institute of Technology catagorised 196 sample plants according to the DNA in their mitochondria and chloroplasts. The samples included plants grown for drugs and hemp as well as wild varieties from Europe, Asia, Africa, Mexico and Jamaica.
The results showed three distinct "races" of cannabis. In central Asia the THC-rich indica predominated, while in western Europe sativa was more common. In India, south-east Asia, Africa, Mexico and Jamaica the rasta variant predominated. It looks similar to the sativa subspecies, but generally contains higher levels of THC.
Since the study was of DNA rather than a formal taxonomic study, Cannabis sativa rasta is not yet an official new subspecies: the name was the result of a competition in Gilmore's lab. Their work is expected to appear in the journal Forensic Science International later this year.
From issue 2517 of New Scientist magazine, 17 September 2005, page 12
DNA research uncovers new cannabis strain
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Researchers in the ACT appear to have found a previously unidentified type of cannabis plant which they have dubbed 'rasta'.
There are currently thought to be only two types of cannabis, one prized for its rope-making qualities, the other cultivated for its drug properties.
New Scientist reports that Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) scientists categorised almost 200 cannabis plants according to their DNA.
CIT spokesman Simon Gilmore says he and colleagues at the institute's Centre for Forensic Science appear to have uncovered another sub-species of the plant.
'Rasta' is not dissimilar to the sativa sub-species but New Scientist reports that it contains more THC, certainly more than the indica sub-species that is used for rope-making.
Mr Gilmore says it could be an ancient line they have identified through DNA.
"What we might be uncovering is really an ancient relationship," he said.
"Cannabis has been used a lot by humans in the last few thousand years and while we have a signature that there might have been three different types of cannabis, what could have happened with human cross-breeding [is] that those distinctions could have been lost by now.
"Three different mitochondrial DNA types in the cannabis that's grown these days, it might imply that cannabis had been domesticated on three separate occasions.
"It seems the first use was for food - cannabis seeds are highly nutritious apparently but not all that tasty."
Mr Gilmore says the object of studying 200 plants was to find markers to track the origins of illegal cannabis.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rasta lends its name to a third type of cannabis
NewScientist.com
AS POLICE and dope smokers know, there are two types of cannabis. Cannabis sativa sativa is mainly used to make hemp, while the indica subspecies is prized for its tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content, which produces the "high". But now Australian researchers have discovered a third type of cannabis, called rasta.
Simon Gilmore of the Canberra Institute of Technology catagorised 196 sample plants according to the DNA in their mitochondria and chloroplasts. The samples included plants grown for drugs and hemp as well as wild varieties from Europe, Asia, Africa, Mexico and Jamaica.
The results showed three distinct "races" of cannabis. In central Asia the THC-rich indica predominated, while in western Europe sativa was more common. In India, south-east Asia, Africa, Mexico and Jamaica the rasta variant predominated. It looks similar to the sativa subspecies, but generally contains higher levels of THC.
Since the study was of DNA rather than a formal taxonomic study, Cannabis sativa rasta is not yet an official new subspecies: the name was the result of a competition in Gilmore's lab. Their work is expected to appear in the journal Forensic Science International later this year.
From issue 2517 of New Scientist magazine, 17 September 2005, page 12