by Veronica Castillo
To understand some of the science behind plant Cannabis , I had to look at the plant like a human. The coolest discovery to me was how much Cannabis mirrors human biology.
Did you know that like humans, Cannabis has lineage, a family tree, and chromosomes? So, chromosomes are similar to threads and are nucleic acids (the biopolymers, or large biomolecules, essential to all known forms of life) and protein, found in the nucleus (a membrane-bound organelle that contains DNA) of most living cells that carry genetic information. For both humans and Cannabis, the X and Y chromosomes, determine sex/gender.
Another fun fact, humans and Cannabis both receive an individual chromosome from a single mother and a single father. That combination creates the formation of genes- DNA. Why does the government fear us learning about Cannabis?
Cannabis Genotypes
A genotype is described as the genetic makeup of the plant, it’s DNA. Leafly, says, “the blueprint for growth”. As stated above, the Cannabis genotype is the product of mom+ dad= baby, just like humans.
“This isn’t the same type of weed that history talks about”, have you heard the OG’s say this? It could be because historical documents say that Cannabis originated in Central Asia- B.C, and Cannabis was not bred but instead, it grew wild! The appropriate term is: landrace, Cannabis strains that grow natural in nature in a specific geographic region on earth.
For me, using human life as an example for understanding genotypes, helped a lot! Here’s a very simple break down to help make sense of it all. Using Blue Dream as an example; the seed that is planted to grow Blue Dream, is created by a Breeder. During that stage of development, the genotype is being created by said Breeder, by crossing the parents- Blueberry and Haze. Together, strain blueberry and strain haze make a baby- Blue Dream.