In this next instalment of our series of articles looking at
patenting cannabis-related inventions, our focus is on the growth
in industrial biotechnology in this area: genetically modifying
plants or host organisms to produce key intermediates in the
cannabinoid pathway, or end cannabinoids themselves.
Historically, as commercial and medical interest in cannabinoids
increased, technologies, and resulting patent filings, focussed on
methodologies for extracting relevant cannabinoids from cannabis
plant extracts. Such techniques are inherently limited by the
quantities of active compounds, or their precursors, naturally
produced by the plants: supply of sufficient levels of plant
materials has to keep up with the demand, while being constrained
by the requirement to only grow plants in a secure environment, and
the large quantities of energy and water required to grow the
plants and isolate the cannabinoid products.
