Moldy Cannabis Can Be Deadly: Genetic Breakthrough Fills Void Left By Federal Inaction

Aurora Cannabis Inc. ACB ACB, the Canadian-based medical marijuana company, announced it has discovered a novel source of genetic resistance against powdery mildew, PM2, that provides strong protection against this pathogen in cannabis sativa.

The development of this proprietary genetic marker technology, now in use in Aurora’s breeding program, is set to produce powdery mildew-resistant cultivars that will be explored for commercial launch this year.

“This discovery offers a critical solution to a pressing challenge in the cannabis industry worldwide,” Lana Culley, Aurora’s VP of Innovation and International Operations, said in a press release. “At Aurora Coast, our state-of-the-art research and development facility, we continuously search for ways to add value to our proprietary cannabis cultivars, and this discovery will lead to new means of managing disease in cannabis production."

Why This Matters

Moldy cannabis can have a wide range of adverse effects on your health, from minor irritation to more severe consequences. The National Institutes of Health reports that the most common cannabis contaminants include microbes, heavy metals and pesticides. "Their direct human toxicity is poorly quantified but include infection, carcinogenicity, reproductive and developmental impacts."

In an interview with Marijuana Moment, Andrew Graham, head of communications at NuggMD said there is "mounting evidence that suggests the regulated [cannabis] markets don't uniformly provide product that's clean, safe, and free of contaminants," a situation that would never be tolerated in any other consumer market. Nugg MD is an online telemedicine platform for medical cannabis patients and physicians.

"The root of this problem, like so many others in the cannabis sector, is federal prohibition," Graham said. "The White House can't legalize cannabis via executive order, but it can order the relevant administrative agencies to develop and issue uniform federal guidance on state-legal cannabis markets in a way that does not add new regulation, as there is too much regulation already. It doesn't have to deschedule or reschedule to give states a playbook to follow."

Aurora's Research

The peer-reviewed research led by Jose Celedon, principal scientist of Breeding and Genetics at Aurora, in collaboration with researchers at The University of British Columbia, noted that “breeding genetic resistance to economically important crop diseases is the most sustainable strategy for disease management and enhancing agricultural and horticultural productivity, particularly where the application of synthetic pesticides is prohibited.”

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