Cannabis DNA mapping could lead to more consistent “highs”

Their work is the latest example of scientists getting into the business of pot. So far they’ve focused mostly on lab testing for things such as potency and pesticides — a requirement in places like Colorado and Washington, the only two states with legal recreational marijuana programs, and Oregon, one of 23 states that allow medical marijuana use. An initiative on Oregon’s November ballot also would legalize the drug here.

In California, lab testing isn’t required, but consumer demand for lab-tested pot has spawned an industry. Scientists, too, have gotten involved in helping marijuana companies fine-tune extraction methods to meet the growing market for potent cannabis concentrates.

But cannabis genetics remains a largely untapped field, said Taylor West, deputy director of the National Cannabis Industry Association. She said marijuana genetics overlaps with intellectual property and U.S. patent issues, areas complicated by the federal prohibition on the drug.

The way Holmes sees it, identifying a strain’s particular genetic makeup is a major step toward being able to assure strain-fixated marijuana consumers that what they’re smoking is what they were told it was. Genetics, too, can help growers breed with more precision.

“Our biggest project really is to solve the question of consistency in this industry. There is no reassurance that if you’re a Sour Diesel fan, that you could go into a dispensary and get Sour Diesel. It’ll say Sour Diesel, but it will be something totally random.”