DNA tracking of Cannabis
Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2018 6:44 am
Despite some marijuana being legal for medical and adult use in many parts of the United States, the vast majority of the cannabis still being produced and consumed is illegal. One company, Applied DNA Sciences, is now seeking to stake a claim in the cannabis industry by providing supply chain tracking through spraying a molecular DNA tag onto the buds themselves.
Applied DNA Sciences says that they’re seeking to provide law enforcement and regulators with a way of determining exactly which buds were grown legally and which weren’t — and they are already working with state governments to require the use of their tracking system.
How Molecular Tracking Spray Works
After harvest, a grower would apply Applied DNA Science’s patented technology, a “CertainT SigNature” molecular tag by spraying it on the buds themselves. A unique DNA tag, which the company builds with a few lines of scrambled DNA code derived from plants, would then stay on the plant. The company says it will stick to the plant “through UV radiation, heat, cold, vibration, abrasion and other extreme environmental conditions.”
In order to read the DNA tag, the company’s own testing equipment (called SigNify) must be used. The equipment can not only locate the tag as proof the cannabis was legally produced, but also to identify the producer themselves.
“When a sample is placed in the SigNify, the device uses a polymerase chain reaction [which amplifies a certain code by reproducing it thousands of times] to reproduce the tags for easy identification,” Matt Allyn writes for Popular Mechanics. “Because the contents of the tags are secure — Applied DNA employees can access only portions of them — they can’t be copied. Which means counterfeits can’t be made, and fewer illegal products can make it into a legal system.”
DNA in and of itself is not inherently dangerous to consume — humans do it every day. Whenever a human consumes a plant or an animal, they are consuming the DNA found in every single cell as well. Phylos Bioscience co-founder and CEO Mowgli Holmes confirms that the molecular tags are not unsafe for human digestion.
Co-founder and chief innovation officer at Phylos, Nishan Karassik, adds that although he does see a use for this for growers trying to authenticate and protect their own varieties, he doesn’t like the idea of tracking for law enforcement.
“The industry instead needs to use market forces and equal regulatory rules and the problem of diversion or smuggling solves itself,” Karassik says. “We are moving in this direction too slowly in the states, but much more rapidly worldwide.”
Applied DNA Sciences says that they’re seeking to provide law enforcement and regulators with a way of determining exactly which buds were grown legally and which weren’t — and they are already working with state governments to require the use of their tracking system.
How Molecular Tracking Spray Works
After harvest, a grower would apply Applied DNA Science’s patented technology, a “CertainT SigNature” molecular tag by spraying it on the buds themselves. A unique DNA tag, which the company builds with a few lines of scrambled DNA code derived from plants, would then stay on the plant. The company says it will stick to the plant “through UV radiation, heat, cold, vibration, abrasion and other extreme environmental conditions.”
In order to read the DNA tag, the company’s own testing equipment (called SigNify) must be used. The equipment can not only locate the tag as proof the cannabis was legally produced, but also to identify the producer themselves.
“When a sample is placed in the SigNify, the device uses a polymerase chain reaction [which amplifies a certain code by reproducing it thousands of times] to reproduce the tags for easy identification,” Matt Allyn writes for Popular Mechanics. “Because the contents of the tags are secure — Applied DNA employees can access only portions of them — they can’t be copied. Which means counterfeits can’t be made, and fewer illegal products can make it into a legal system.”
DNA in and of itself is not inherently dangerous to consume — humans do it every day. Whenever a human consumes a plant or an animal, they are consuming the DNA found in every single cell as well. Phylos Bioscience co-founder and CEO Mowgli Holmes confirms that the molecular tags are not unsafe for human digestion.
Co-founder and chief innovation officer at Phylos, Nishan Karassik, adds that although he does see a use for this for growers trying to authenticate and protect their own varieties, he doesn’t like the idea of tracking for law enforcement.
“The industry instead needs to use market forces and equal regulatory rules and the problem of diversion or smuggling solves itself,” Karassik says. “We are moving in this direction too slowly in the states, but much more rapidly worldwide.”