Genetically Modified Tequila Bacteria Can Produce Cannabinoids

in #science5 years ago

A German pharmaceutical company Farmako patented a process that allows genetically modified bacteria to produce bio-synthetic cannabinoids.

()

The bacteria in question - Zymomonas mobilis - that are normally used to produce tequila could provide us with up to thousand times cheaper substances produced by growing hemp as it is the first ever technique of producing cannabinoids that doesn't require yeast. The Farmako company claims that getting rid of the yeast can simplify the industrial extraction of cannabinoids by quite a lot. This is because during production that uses yeast we need to separate the yeast and cannabinoids from each other after the synthesis finishes. On the other hand, the new bacteria release the cannabinoids directly into the surrounding medium allowing for continuous production.

The scientists removed parts of the Zynomonas mobilis genome, specifically parts that allow the bacteria to create alcohol and replaced them with genetic material from the pathogen responsible for malaria and from hemp. This resulted in the creation of a new species named Zymomonas cannabinoidis.

On top of this, Zymomonas cannabinoidis is not only of producing more than 180 of known cannabinoids but is also capable of easy switching between which one is produced by just switching a single gene.

Sources:


  • If you like the content I’m producing about science maybe you will like the content I produce about gaming as well! Be sure to check out my other posts!
Sort:  


This post has been voted on by the SteemSTEM curation team and voting trail. It is elligible for support from @curie.

If you appreciate the work we are doing, then consider supporting our witness stem.witness. Additional witness support to the curie witness would be appreciated as well.

For additional information please join us on the SteemSTEM discord and to get to know the rest of the community!

Please consider setting @steemstem as a beneficiary to your post to get a stronger support.

Please consider using the steemstem.io app to get a stronger support.

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.24
TRX 0.11
JST 0.031
BTC 60936.15
ETH 2921.43
USDT 1.00
SBD 3.70