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Questions and Answers: 2022

Question: I recently saw an article on Cross Pollination between a Chinese Hops plant and a cannabis plant. apparently scientists are …

  • Question

    I recently saw an article on Cross Pollination between a Chinese Hops plant and a cannabis plant. apparently scientists are looking at its potential in manufacturing terpines and flavinoids as well as CDB. i was wondering if its possible to use this method to re-create the closest common ancestor of Hops and Cannabis, before it split back 60 million years ago, get a closer look at what that plant ancestor might have looked like?

    Answer

    Dear GCubebuddy, while it sounds like an interesting experiment, a modern-day hybrid between these two species would be very different (in all likelihood) from the ancestor of these species. Of course, it would be very difficult to predict the complete phytochemical makeup of the ancestor. But, more to the point, the ancestor wasn't likely intermediate between these two plants. Descendants are sometimes very derived (i.e., very different) from the ancestors due to selective pressures on one lineage. Best wishes.