New type of cannabis identified

[Tom]

DNA research uncovers new cannabis strain

 

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.

 

Author:ABC

Date:Friday, September 16, 2005.

Source:ABC

Copyright:© 2005 ABC

 

certainly more than the indica sub-species that is used for rope-making.

Not around here!

 

[F420]

Since when has Indica been used for making rope??

[dsyfer]

Yeah, little short ropes that you light up one end of. Might have to use that one, "pass the rope please".

[Pickle]

Yay, Aussie G13.

 

Considering they have called it "Rasta", there is a posibility that it could be good for medicine/recreation but these people sound like they don't know much so who knows, they might just think they are being cool.

 

Anyone want to take a stab at what they have "discovered"? I would like to hazzard a guess at Ruderalis, though only because it's the only reason i can think of that they could have found a new sub species.

 

I have to ask though, where are they getting their seeds/cuttings from? Could it be they havn't discovered anything?

 

Is there someone who works there that could get a cutting? You could be as famous as Howard Marks.

[Bubble Bags Australia]

I think hemp nuts taste great. I used to eat them all the time till they became hard to find. I remember when I worked for the BC Marijuana Party we had a huge feed sack of them sitting in the corner of POT-TV and everyone would just take out a handfull and munch.

 

This new strain makes me think of that Simpsons episode where they become farmers and cross tobacco and tommatos to make a tomato that gives you a nicotine fix and they call it a tomaco and it's legal to sell because there is no law against selling tomatos.

 

I always thought that would be great if some genetics person could figure out a way to cross breed cannabis and something else, so you could have like a tomato with THC that would be legal..

[dsyfer]

Tomajuana hey, nah then some wank in the government would want to ban all tomatoe species, and would probably do so.

[nitram]

I'd like to see all there information s I believe I read somewhere that they collected thousand samples over many countries and looked at 'genetics'.

 

could be wrong :scratchin

 

N.

[Infinitee]

Am I stoned, or did that article say that they had found a third sub-species that was different from Sativa and Indica.

 

In case they hadn't noticed, Ruderalis had already been discovered. What are they doing? Getting their info from the government or something? Fools.

 

If I had to guess, I'd say they probably had a bunch of fairly crap plants (they should come to OSA for grow tips :: ) and maybe had a few good Ruderalis genetics which thrived under their conditions and made these scientists think they're geniuses (or is that genii?).

 

It could also be something like mutation or evolution, after all, we don't really know the history of our beloved plant (not to mention our 200+ beloved strains and all the cross-breeding going on).

 

CIT:

[everest]

yep and i invented pizza :smoke

 

goes searching for rasta femmed beans

[Tom]

From New Scientist Print Edition

 

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.

 

Author:New Scientist

Date:20 September 2005

Source:New Scientist

Copyright:© Copyright Reed Business Information Ltd.

 

AS POLICE and dope smokers know, there are two types of cannabis. Cannabis sativa sativa is mainly used to make hemp,