Applied Science for the Canadian Cannabis Industry

随着加拿大大麻合法化的到来，大麻的利用及其提取物已成为加拿大一个重要的新兴生物技术分部门，具有重大的经济影响。该部门涉及以大麻生产、收获、腌制、分析、运输、加工、配方和销售为重点的大公司和中小型企业，所有这些企业在整个制造周期都面临科学和技术挑战。大麻正在摆脱历史上类似禁令的框架，相对于其他生物活性物质，过去的研究机会有限。兰加拉学院提出的这项计划旨在应用最新技术来缩小知识差距，满足这一新行业的需求，并为将加拿大确立为应用大麻科学领先者的独特机会做出贡献。该研究计划涵盖了广泛的研究范围，应用于植物基因组学、植物新陈代谢学、细胞对大麻类化合物的反应、加工工艺的优化，以及评估用于输送生物活性化合物的纳米颗粒。该计划将解决对工业重要的问题，例如：指定大麻品种的遗传基础是什么？品种和化学生产之间有什么关系？这种化学表达与消费者的偏好和影响有什么关系？如何有针对性地开发新品种？如何快速分析植物以优化生长决策？如何以经济和生态安全的方式从植物中分离出具有商业重要性的化合物？该计划将行业、大学研究人员、学生和其他机构联系起来，利用联邦资金在该领域建立全球竞争力，并培养该领域的技能人才。

With the advent of Canadian legalization of cannabis, its utilization and its extracts have become an important emerging Canadian biotechnology subsector, with substantial economic impacts. The sector involves large companies and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) focused on cannabis production, harvesting, curing, analyzing, transporting, processing, formulating and marketing, all of which face scientific and technical challenges across the manufacturing cycle. Cannabis is emerging from a historically prohibition-like framework, a past that has limited research opportunities relative to other bio-active substances. The program proposed by Langara College aims to apply the latest technology to close the knowledge gap, address the needs of this new industry, and contribute to the unique opportunity to establish Canada as the leader in applied cannabis science. The program of research spans a wide spectrum of investigation, with applications to plant genomics, plant metabolomics, cellular response to cannabinoids, optimization of processing, and evaluating nanoparticles for delivery of bio-active compounds. The program will address questions of importance to industry such as: What is the genetic basis of cannabis varietal designation? What is the relationship between varietal and chemical production? How does the chemical expression relate to consumer preference and impact? How can new varietals be developed in a targeted way? How can plants be analyzed quickly to optimize growing decisions? How are commercially important compounds isolated from the plants economically and in an ecologically safe way? Connecting industry, College researchers, students, and other institutions, the program will leverage federal funds to build global competitiveness in the sector and develop skilled people in the field.