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Genetically engineered yeast produce the cannabinoids THC and CBD, researchers reported today (February 27) in Nature. Much like in their typical application of brewing beer, the microbes ferment sugar into the compounds.
The authors say the protocol offers a way to produce a desired cannabinoid without contamination from other plant products. For instance, CBD has been developed into therapeutic products that don’t cause the high of THC. “Being able to produce [CBD] in a way that’s uncontaminated with THC is a pretty valuable thing,” coauthor Jay Keasling of the University of California, Berkeley, tells Wired.
To engineer their yeast, Keasling and his colleagues introduced a number of genes for enzymes that convert the sugar galactose to a cannabinoid called CBGA. Then each strain of yeast used its particular suite of introduced genes to make inactivated forms of THC and CBD. Heating the microbes switched the cannabinoids ...
