Journal:Cannabis sativa research trends, challenges, and new-age perspectives
| Full article title | Cannabis sativa research trends, challenges, and new-age perspectives |
|---|---|
| Journal | iScience |
| Author(s) | Hussain, Tajammul; Jeena, Ganga; Pitakbut, Thanet; Vasilev, Nikolay; Kayser, Oliver |
| Author affiliation(s) | TU Dortmund University, |
| Primary contact | Email: Tajammul dot hussain at tu-dortmund dot de |
| Year published | 2021 |
| Volume and issue | 24(12) |
| Article # | 103391 |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.isci.2021.103391 |
| ISSN | 2589-0042 |
| Distribution license | Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International |
| Website | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004221013626 |
| Download | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004221013626/pdfft (PDF) |
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This article should be considered a work in progress and incomplete. Consider this article incomplete until this notice is removed. |
Abstract
Background: Cannabis sativa L. is one of the oldest known medicinal plants, cultivated for at least 10,000 years for several agricultural and industrial applications. However, the plant became controversial owing to some psychoactive components that have adverse effects on human health.
Methods: In this review, we analyze the trends in cannabis research for the past two centuries. We discuss the historical transitions of cannabis from the category of "herbal medicine" to an illicit drug and back to a medicinal product post-legalization. In addition, we address the new-age application of immuno-suppressive and anti-inflammatory cannabis extracts for the treatment of COVID-19 inflammation. We further address the influence of the legal aspects of cannabis cultivation for medicinal, pharmaceutical, and biotechnological research. Finally, we review the up-to-date cannabis-related genomic resources and advanced technologies for their potential application in genomic-based cannabis improvement.
Results: Overall, this review discusses the diverse aspects of cannabis research developments, ranging from traditional use as herbal medicine to the latest potential in COVID-19, legal practices with updated patent status, and current state of the art genetic and genomic tools reshaping cannabis biotechnology in the modern agriculture and pharmaceutical industries.
Conclusions: Remarkable growth in genomic data, combined with fast-paced development of artificial intelligence (AI)-based data analysis tools have made it possible to explore the Cannabis plant at the genetic and molecular levels. In the future, the combination of these genetic technologies will make it possible to obtain enhanced expression rates, which will lead to enhanced cannabinoid yields in an economically feasible manner. Pharmacological research, coupled with rapidly evolving genome-based biotechnology, will further facilitate exploring the Cannabis plant for its tremendous potential in drug discovery.
Keywords: cannabis, cannabis research, plant biology, plant genetics, genomics
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This presentation is faithful to the original, with only a few minor changes to presentation. References aren't listed in the order they appear in the original, but they do for this version, by design. In some cases important information was missing from the references, and that information was added. A few words were added, updated, or shifted for improved grammar and readability, but this version is otherwise unchanged in compliance with the "NoDerivatives" portion of the original's license.
