Harvesting the biosynthetic machineries that cultivate a variety of indispensable plant natural products

Plants are a sustainable resource for valuable natural chemicals best illustrated by large-scale farming centered on specific products. Gaps in our understanding of how economically important compounds such as cannabinoids are produced are being identified using next-generation ‘omics’ to rapidly advance biochemical breakthroughs at an unprecedented rate.

Gaps in our understanding of how economically important compounds such as cannabinoids are produced are being identified using next-generation ‘omics’ to rapidly advance biochemical breakthroughs at an unprecedented rate

Recently, cannabis has been suggested as a potential alternative therapy for refractory epilepsy, which affects 30% of epilepsy, both adults and children, who do not respond to current medications. There is a large unmet medical need for new antiepileptics that would not interfere with normal function in patients with refractory epilepsy and conditions associated with refractory seizures. The two chief cannabinoids are Δ-9-tetrahyrdrocannabinol, the major psychoactive component of marijuana, and cannabidiol (CBD), the major nonpsychoactive component of marijuana.

Cannabis Pharmacology: The Usual Suspects and a Few Promising Leads

Tetrahydrocannabinol garnered most research interest with sporadic attention to cannabidiol, which has only rekindled in the last 15 years through a demonstration of its remarkably versatile pharmacology and synergy with THC. Gradually a cognizance of the potential of other phytocannabinoids has developed. Contemporaneous assessment of cannabis pharmacology must be even far more inclusive. Medical and recreational consumers alike have long believed in unique attributes of certain cannabis chemovars despite their similarity in cannabinoid profiles. This has focused additional research on the pharmacological contributions of mono- and sesquiterpenoids to the effects of cannabis flower preparations.