Following the news that CanBreed, a genetics-based breeding company for cannabis, opened up its plant just outside of Israel’s Ra’anana, CTech was eager for a visit. The company has recently launched what it’s claiming to be the largest plant gene-editing laboratory in the country and one of the largest in the world, designed to grow and test cannabis and other items for eventual mass production.
The factory is roughly 1,200 square meters and contains a molecular biology lab, a tissue culture lab, and a growing safe - three rooms that experiment with CRISPR - the Nobel prize-winning technology that can help them produce stable cannabis seeds for hemp growers. To say it is impressive is an understatement.
There are thousands - almost millions - of seeds and plants that are being grown for testing purposes. The company, which last year obtained a licensing agreement for foundational CRISPR patents, can apply gene-editing tools to provide better raw materials for medical products. This means that its team of 24 people - 16 of whom are molecular biologists - are hard at work creating stabilized plant seeds that produce constant and reliable results once grown.
Read more at calcalistech.com