23 Mar 2006 @ 00:54, by Raymond Powers
My dear friend John Roulac, founder of Nutiva hemp foods and HempShake sent me this study. It forbodes well for the hemp foods industry.
DNA separates hemp from marijuana plants
MINNEAPOLIS, March 22 (UPI) -- Two University of Minnesota scientists
have become the first to unequivocally separate hemp plants from
marijuana plants by using genetic markers.
Hemp, a crop grown for fiber and seed, and marijuana, the most
popular illegal drug in the United States, both belong to the species
Cannabis sativa. They differ in levels of the psychoactive drug
tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, but are otherwise difficult to tell
apart.
The study's authors -- George Weiblen, a Minnesota professor of plant
biology, and Shannon Datwyler a postdoctoral associate who is on the
faculty of California State University-Sacramento -- say the new DNA
"fingerprinting" technique holds promise for distinguishing different
domesticated plant lines in U.S. criminal cases. It may also prove
useful in nations where the cultivation of hemp is permitted, but
marijuana is illegal, as in Canada and Europe.
The study appears in the March issue of the Journal of Forensic Science.
Copyright © 2006 United Press International, Inc.
In Health,
John W Roulac
Founder and CEO
Author of four books on Hemp & Composting
Nutiva — Delicious Hemp & Coconut Superfoods
800-993-4367 ext 701
[link]
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