NRC funding to develop high essential oil hemp genotypes
929 Mainland Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 1S3
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NEWS RELEASE
LEXSTON ANNOUNCES FEDERAL FUNDING FOR CANNABIS TRANSFORMATION PROJECT THAT WILL
RESULT IN ZERO THC VARIETIES.
Vancouver, British Columbia, January 19, 2022. Lexston Life Sciences Corp. (the “Company” or “Lexston”)
(CSE: LEXT) (OTCQB: LEXTF) is pleased to announce that the company’s wholly owned subsidiary, Egret
Bioscience Ltd. (“Egret”) has recently received funding from the Canadian government for their project
on Cannabis transformation to develop new breeding techniques using CRISPR-Cas9 technology.
The project, entitled “Screening of Egret’s hemp genotypes for proof of concept tissue culture and
transformation method validation“ was initiated by the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) in July
2021 through their Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP). The Government contribution to
the research totals over CAD$55 ,000. The goal of this year- long project is to develop n ew high essential
oil hemp genotypes by manipulating the Cannabis sativa L. genome with the CRISPR gene editing system
at targets identified by Egret scientists.
On September 30 , 2021, the NRC provided a project report for the initial stages of transformation of
Cannabis tissue cultures. The team reported successfully creating cannabis protoplasts (cannabis cell
cultures without cell walls) from four of Egret’s flagship essential oil hemp varieties: Hempress, Autopilot,
Abacus and Suver Haze. The team also successfully transformed the protoplast with a marker protein,
Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) to validate the methods developed thus far.
Successfully transfected hemp protoplasts expressing Green Fluorescent Protein.
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“We are tremendously excited to see the progress made by NRC Scientists, lead by Dr. Pankaj Bhowmik
on four of the five varieties of essential oil hemp that we recently imported from the United States. Our
high CBD, high essential oil content germplasm will be transformed into zero THC versions to ensure their
compliance with the Canadian Industrial Hemp Regulations and the specificatio n of the international
hemp markets which requires hemp flower s to test below 0.3% total THC”, stated Philippe Henry PhD,
Chief Science Officer and Director of Lexston.
Lexston intends to leverage the methods developed through this initial research for fu ture technology
transfers into other species of interest to the company’s psychedelic pipeline.
For more information and to subscribe to the Company’s mailing list, please
visit https://lexston.ca/contact/ .
About Lexston Life Sciences Corp.
Lexston Life Sciences Corp. is a Canadian biotechnology company providing cannabis testing and research
services. Lexston is also in the process of securing licensing under the exemptions prescribed by section
56 of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (Canada) to enable the expansion of its services into the
psychedelic industry with an initial focus on the detection and quantification of psychedelic molecules in
the lab and point of care. Lexston intends to develop an d validate methods for standardized
manufacturing of plant derived psychedelics in support of burgeoning trials in the field of mental health
and wellness.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
LEXSTON LIFE SCIENCES CORP.
Jagdip Bal Chief Executive Officer
Telephone: (604) 928-8913
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does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release.