NRGene, RCK To Develop Medical Cannabis DNA Tests For Better Quality Strains

NRGene, an Israeli genomic big data company with applications that include medical research and plant and animal breeding, and RCK, an Israeli medical cannabis company, announced that they were partnering to develop DNA markers representing the broad diversity within commercial medicinal cannabis.

The DNA markers will be used for strain identification of cannabis plants, and for the discovery of key traits in cannabis for more efficient breeding.

Medical cannabis growers could obtain professional authentication of the strains grown, the companies said.

“Today, no reliable method exists to distinguish among cannabis strains, so the quality and purity of the produced material is uncertain,” said Dr. Noam Chehanovsky, RCK’s CTO, in a statement. “As the plant is grown for medical treatment, and different strains are used to treat different medical conditions, it is crucial we ensure the strain’s identity, quality and efficacy of every batch of the medical cannabis produced.”

NRGene CEO Dr. Gil Ronen said: “Our computational tools are being used for research and development as well as quality control of plant material. In the case of cannabis, where the plant material is used to treat diverse medical conditions, the accuracy achieved by our analysis is more important than ever.”