For this molecular biologist, cannabis testing is a field of discovery

Anthony Torres, a molecular biologist in the cannabis and hemp industry and the director of molecular biology at Front Range Biosciences, has wanted to be a scientist for as long as he can remember. As a child, he wanted to do marine biology or whale training, and his interest increased in high school 

“I had an amazing biology teacher who really got me thinking about bigger questions and got me excited about the potential of what could be done in science,” Torres said.

ABC7 News

Anthony Torres was interviewed by ABC7 News in April 2018 about mold contamination of cannabis in some California dispensaries. As a senior researcher at Steep Hill, his responsibilities included testing cannabis for bacteria, mold and other contaminants to report to the California Department of Cannabis Control.

After high school, Torres enrolled in the University of San Fransisco, a private Jesuit institution in California. The smaller school suited him because it allowed him to make more direct connections with his professors. One professor, Christina Tzagarakis–Foster who taught cell biology, saw Torres’ interest in biology and hired him as an undergraduate research associate in his sophomore year.

First forays into research

In the Tzagarakis–Foster lab, Torres studied the hormone receptor DAX-1, which is linked to human diseases in early embryonic development. The DAX-1 gene is also expressed in some breast cancers.

“I’ve always had the intellectual curiosity of how a body can go through changes and abnormalities that don’t get corrected,” Torres said. “I’ve thought about how that works mechanistically, and how different therapies can benefit (people with cancer).”

After earning his undergraduate degree, Torres continued his cancer research as an intern at Genentech. There he studied small-molecule therapeutics against the phosphoinositide 3-kinase, or PI3K, pathway. Elevated PI3K signaling is a hallmark of cancer.

At Genentech, Torres said, scientists from all over the world give lectures. “It’s an environment that’s constantly generating information and creating a community of scientists.” 

Torres completed his master’s degree at the Tzagarakis–Foster lab, doing work similar to his undergraduate research. He transfected silencing RNAs into mouse embryonic stem cells, determining what genes were affected by DAX-1 knockdown.

All these experiences in science, including an academic staff research position at the Children’s Hospital of Oakland Research Institute just after completing his master’s degree, helped Torres develop his vision of himself as a scientist.

“I saw the successful careers that scientists were having, with Ph.Ds. and without Ph.Ds., and that opened my mind to pursuing things outside of the med school path,” Torres said. “It was enlightening to see doctors are not all-knowing. They refer back to basic research.”

Biochemical agriculture

Torres entered the hemp and cannabis testing industry in 2013, working as a senior research scientist at Steep Hill California, headquartered in Berkeley. The hemp and cannabis testing industry in the U.S. is young because federal laws have long restricted cannabis use. These laws prevented even hemp, a fiber crop used for rope, canvas and oil, from being accurately genetically tested.

When Torres began working at Steep Hill, the first commercial cannabis testing lab, he was interested in both the genetic markers of certain cannabis strains and the small molecules that they produced. Cultivation sites and distribution centers in California provided the cannabis for analysis. Torres and other Steep Hill scientists analyzed and packaged this information into a certificate of analysis for reporting to the California Department of Cannabis Control.

Steep Hill’s genetics protocols for hemp and agriculture were purchased in 2019 by Front Range Biosciences, a company based in Boulder, Colorado that specializes in genetic testing and characterization of hemp. These protocols included potency tests, determination of unique genes between strains and assays for pathogens. Torres’ team from Steep Hill moved to Front Range Biosciences, and Torres became a scientific consultant on the application of the genetic methods he and his team had developed.

The future of the field

Now, Torres finds himself the leader of a team that is still making discoveries every day, with new pathways in the science to pursue and methods to be explored, as well as new strains of cannabis being developed by cultivators.

Torres has advice for scientists who want to enter the cannabis industry, or scientific industry in general.

“Follow your passions and interests, especially for therapeutics — not just cannabis, but other potential botanicals,” Torres said. “Check the history because it’s fascinating and also to better inform yourself. There are stigmas that may have been taught at an earlier point.”

The author spoke more with Torres about the science and policy behind commercial cannabis testing. The rest of the interview will be published in a later column.