What the Marijuana Genome Map Means for the Future of Pot

The fledgling cannabis industry is full of wide-eyed claims about what pot can do. Outperform your favorite energy drink? Maybe. Cure cancer? Worth a try. The biggest believers and entrepreneurs make the plant sound almost magical. Now one startup has the key to keep the science from the hype: the first-ever full map of the cannabis genome.

“DNA, of course I’m biased because it’s what I do, but it doesn’t lie. It really is a way to just sort of clear a lot of the b.s.,” said CJ Schwartz, chief executive officer of Sunrise Genetics, the Fort Collins, Colorado-based company behind the map. “The excessive claims are really doing a disservice to the plant or the potential of the plant and the science surrounding that.”