BRAZIL-SCIENCE-HEALTH-CBD-PLANT

Brazilian molecular biologist Rodrigo Moura Neto inspects a plant at his laboratory at The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) in Rio de Janeiro on June 23, 2023. The fast-growing, homely plant, Trema micrantha blume, is native to the Americas, where it is widespread and often considered a weed. But Moura Neto recently discovered its fruits and flowers contain one of the active ingredients in marijuana: cannabidiol, or CBD, which has shown promise as a treatment for conditions including epilepsy, autism, anxiety and chronic pain. Crucially, he also found it does not contain the other main ingredient in pot, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC -- the substance that makes people high. That opens the possibility of an abundant new source of CBD, without the complications of cannabis, which remains illegal in many places. (Photo by CARL DE SOUZA / AFP) (Photo by CARL DE SOUZA/AFP via Getty Images)