Lone Wolf Biotech leads the pack in cannabis breeding and genetics services
Lone Wolf Biotech, founded by Brian Fox, is innovatively addressing many of the most common challenges commercial cannabis cultivators face.
By developing a library of stable, reliable, and consistent plant genetics and offering the same services to cultivators, ensuring a lifetime of clean plant tissues – Lone Wolf provides cultivators with the reassurance that even the worst-case scenario doesn’t mean total disaster for a grow.
The company’s inception was motivated by the recurrent problems commercial cultivators encounter, such as pathogens and pests.
“I would see a lot of the same problems with growers, I would see people talking about issues within their facilities,” Fox explained. “I decided to take everything I had learned and exit the game of winning licenses and focus on the science of cannabis.”
Fox, leveraging his extensive experience as an entrepreneur and his deep understanding of the cannabis licensing landscape, shifted from acquiring licenses to focusing on the scientific aspects of cannabis cultivation. His entrepreneurial journey began in 2013 becoming the first to operate a legal dispensary license in Illinois, which marked the start of his deep dive into the cannabis industry.
Lone Wolf Biotech operates under state and federal hemp licenses, which allows them to conduct research and development without a traditional cannabis license. This strategy ensures compliance and allows the team to remain focused on genetics and plant health, distancing themselves from standard cultivation practices. By collaborating closely with regulatory bodies and partnering with licensed operators to establish satellite labs within licensed facilities, Lone Wolf is able to maintain compliant practices at every part of the process.
“Integrity is important to us,” Fox said. “We take it really seriously. We take privacy seriously. We take our clients and their genetics seriously. That’s their lifeline. That’s their lifeblood.”
The core of Lone Wolf’s services revolves around tissue culture—a vital technique for cannabis genetics preservation and enhancement. This process involves sterilizing plant samples and cultivating them in a controlled environment, ensuring the genetic purity and stability of the plants. This technique not only aids in protecting genetic diversity but also enhances plant health by rejuvenating older or diseased plants.
Fox’s vision for Lone Wolf Biotech is clear: to be synonymous with premium cannabis genetics and to further the understanding of the cannabis plant as a whole. An attitude of education and collaboration puts Lone Wolf front and center in the booming cannabis industry.
The company is consistently expanding its genetic library and collaborates with breeders to enhance and preserve valuable cannabis strains. They aspire to develop stable seeds that cater to the specific needs of commercial growers, emphasizing the importance of clean, healthy plants.
Perhaps Lone Wolf’s most important offerings currently, the company provides essential tissue culture services such as genetic banking, cleaning of genetic material, and micropropagation for licensed cultivators and legal cannabis businesses. These services are crucial for cultivators looking to safeguard their genetics against unforeseen circumstances like power outages or pest infestations that could potentially devastate their crops.
Additionally, with the launch of microbusiness licenses and a renewed “immaculate conception period” for those licensees, Lone Wolf provides a safe and reliable resource. With more than 1,500 cultivars in its library, the team at Lone Wolf has created a one-stop shop for cannabis growers.
“Our tissue culture services are a great source of GenZero clones to help new cultivators get up and running,” Fox explained. “We can really help the micro licensees as they start to build out. Lone Wolf can prepare hundreds or thousands of tissue culture clones and have them ready for delivery at the time designated by the customer,” Fox said.
“I think everybody should be banking their genetics and tissue culture,” Robert Lowery, Director of Tissue Culture and Propagation at Lone Wolf Biotech explained. “I think that’s just a no-brainer. But all the services we offer are truly valuable. Commercial cultivators, breeders, and growers need to protect their genetics as much as anybody else. You know, some of these breeders will have the same plant out for 10, 20 years. And, those genetics need to be taken care of. And so we’re a great service for those people as well.”
“People don’t wanna lose some of the old skunks and stuff like that, where everything now, it’s sort of a mix of everything. You don’t have all these original landrace lines that we originally had with their profiles. When something’s gone, it’s gone. You know? So, people need a better way to protect than keeping it in a garage for 10 years and hoping nothing happens to it,” Lowery continued. “We’ve also heard a lot of commercial cultivators where they’ll have big power outages during the summer, and they’ll have mold issues, or they’ll have a mother room or a veg room, or a flowering room that’ll get hop latent viroid or a really bad pest infestation – they end up losing nearly everything.”
Lone Wolf Biotech is heavily invested in the research of cannabis, leveraging genomics and adaptive learning to advance its breeding programs. Although currently more focused on tissue culture, their long-term strategy includes integrating more advanced scientific techniques to enhance their understanding and manipulation of cannabis genetics.
Lone Wolf Biotech aims to remain at the forefront of cannabis genetics research and plant development, providing valuable services that ensure the health and viability of cannabis plants for commercial cultivators.
While the company is already making significant contributions to the cannabis industry by improving plant genetics and helping cultivators achieve more reliable and efficient production processes, what lies ahead is a better understanding of the cannabis plant and further knowledge on how to best produce resilient, performing cannabis genetics.
“Long term, I’d like Lone Wolf to be synonymous with premium genetics and quality cannabis,” Fox continued. “I do believe seeds will be a very viable option in the future as well. I want to have stable seeds and safe, viable tissue cultures and clones for commercial growers. On the service side, Lone Wolf should be the place these groups turn to. All of this while building a network of breeders, and growing our genetic library.”
“We will be here, providing premium genetics that are specific to growers’ needs, and continuing to learn about this plant for a long time.”
For more information about Lone Wolf Biotech go to lonewolfbiotech.com.
Additional information about Lone Wolf tissue culture can be found at lonewolftissueculture.com.
