A start-up (about which I can find very little information) has sequenced the genomes of two Cannabis species at a reported cost of $200,000. Interestingly, the company is operating on an open access model and has already put the draft sequences into the cloud.
This also seems to be an interesting case of how the state has encouraged a situation where we see this success, but don’t see the decades of hindered medical advancement. Marijuana grows literally like a weed in much of the US, and could have been an inexpensive medical treatment long ago if the feds had not gone to war with it. Will the feds loosen their grip if an expensive, purified Cannabis substance is distributed in pill form by doctors? It seems likely (and such a pill is already available overseas and trying to get FDA approval here). But we can’t have inexpensive self-medication! That’s just too dangerous (or at least not profitable for bureaucrats and connected corporatists).
9:31 am on August 19, 2011