The project “Authentication and Tracking of Medical Cannabis with DNA Watermarking” is concerned with the development of a novel security method for the traceability of cannabis strains. It is carried out as part of the BayIntAn program to promote international research collaborations.

The main goal is to develop a DNA-based authentication and tracking technology for medical cannabis. This method is intended to enable the identification and tracing of the origin of cannabis strains in order to:

- prevent illegal distribution and detect unauthorized use,
- track hybridization and recombination to protect intellectual property,
- enable tamper-proof marking of cannabis strains with DNA watermarking.

In the long term, this technology could be transferred to other plant or animal products. The consortium plans to integrate robust DNA watermarks into various genetic cannabis strains. Using low-cost DNA analysis, these watermarks can be quickly identified and the strains traced back to their countries of origin or distribution systems. The concept is being developed and tested in several interdisciplinary research groups.
 

Contact: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Dominik Heider