BioHarvest Sciences Inc has unveiled a new, groundbreaking "Amalgamated Trichomes Coral Structure" (ATCS) that the company says will revolutionize the production of cannabis.
The company has successfully grown multiple trichomes in coral-shaped clusters where they are attached together in a natural structure, which protects the trichomes from the shear forces and guarantees much-needed mechanical stability during the growth process.
The trichomes (the natural cannabinoids micro-factories of the cannabis plant) grow on the surface of the cannabis flower or leaf and have a shape of a tiny mushroom with glandular heads. They are individually and mechanically attached to the surface through a fragile stalk.
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BioHarvest said it is the first company in the world to successfully and naturally grow trichomes together, forming a coral-shaped structure that protects them from the shear forces applied by the fluid motion inside the bioreactors.
The company said this structure guarantees the much-needed mechanical stability during the growth process within the bioreactor, and it will allow BioHarvest to quickly scale up cannabis production in advance of wide-scale commercialization in the first half of 2022.
"ATCS brings us one step closer to the completion of the Cannabis development program,” said CEO Ilan Sobel in a statement. “The patented BioFarming technology, along with such in-house expertise, is creating tremendous biotech market opportunities for BioHarvest. I look forward to showing the world in H1/2022 the company's cannabis-based products and to unveiling new conquered frontiers by our BioFarming technology."
Eitan Popper, chairman of BioHarvest's board of advisors, noted that typically cannabis trichome cells grown in liquid media lack the static mechanical support they have when growing on top of or attached to the solid cannabis flower or leaf tissue.
“The challenge is two-fold, not only liquid media versus solid plant tissue but also dynamic flow conditions versus static conditions,” Popper said.
“Put simply, how do you stably proliferate and guarantee the physical integrity of fragile plant organs grown in a liquid that is circulating or flowing within a bioreactor. BioHarvest has solved this with proprietary IP that is specific to cannabis. It is fascinating from a scientific point of view and very encouraging from a business potential perspective for cannabis and beyond."
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