EPISODES

In this behind-the-scenes episode of the Curious About Cannabis Podcast, host Jason Wilson sits down with Medicinal Genomics founder Kevin McKernan to talk about Cannabis genetics and the mysteries of the Cannabis genome. This extended two hour conversation is packed with critical information and covers a wide range of scientific and philosophical topics including how cannabinoids, sex and pest resistance are regulated by genes, philosophical issues surrounding GMOs, genetic testing technologies, epigenetics, common misunderstandings about genomics, and much more. A portion of this conversation was spent reviewing the results of a recent groundbreaking genomics study that examined the genes responsible for sex expression, cannabinoid production, and pest resistance in Cannabis. To learn more about this study, visit this link to read the pre-print article.

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The Curious About Cannabis Podcast is produced by Natural Learning Enterprises, a mission-driven company dedicated to enhancing public scientific literacy about the natural world through print and digital science education media. Curious About Cannabis is just one of several learning initiatives produced by Natural Learning Enterprises. To learn more, visit www.NaturalEdu.com

​In this behind-the-scenes (BTS) episode, we speak with Ellen Parkin, MS, a quality manager at a Cannabis testing laboratory in Oregon. Ellen has been involved in Cannabis testing since the early years of regulated Cannabis testing in Oregon and has worked as a laboratory technician, a laboratory director, and a quality manager. Over the years her work has gravitated towards identifying quality control issues related to testing Cannabis infused edibles. In this conversation we discuss some of the issues she has run into regarding testing edibles, what laboratories do to understand whether their data is accurate, how to work with a lab to troubleshoot unforeseen test results, and more.
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I hope you enjoy! Stay curious, and take it easy.

In this behind-the-scenes (BTS) interview we sit down with Dr. Justin Fischedick, a natural products researcher that performed some of the early Cannabis research investigating the terpenes in unique Cannabis varieties. Justin describes how he came to research Cannabis terpenes, how his colleague Arno Hazekamp came up with the term "chemovar" and what it means, what lessons they learned from mapping terpene differences between Cannabis varieties, issues related to testing terpenes in Cannabis, and limitations related to interpreting research about Cannabis and other natural products. Running at over an hour and a half, this interview is packed with information, so I hope you enjoy. Stay curious!
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UPDATE: This conversation took place in early Fall of 2019, near the beginning of the media's coverage of the "vaping crisis". You will hear us reference the number of deaths associated with vaping at 13, however by the end of media coverage in December, this number increased to approximately 60 deaths and nearly 3000 reported injuries related to vaping.

How do Cannabis testing labs determine their own accuracy? What contaminants are commonly detected in Cannabis products? How do cells communicate with one another? What should people know when trying to interpret scientific research?
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In this behind-the-scenes (BTS) interview, we talk with friend and colleague, Anthony Smith, PhD, a molecular biologist that has spent the past five years or more testing Cannabis products for potency and purity in labs across the United States. We discuss what contaminants labs are now seeing in Cannabis products, what goes on behind the scenes in Cannabis testing labs, how testing labs determine their own accuracy, the difficulties of interpreting scientific research, misconceptions about molecular signaling in the body, and much more!