Hemp has been an important crop throughout human history for food, fiber, and medicine. Despite significant progress made by the international research community, the basic biology of hemp plants remains insufficiently understood. Clear objectives are needed to guide future research. As a semi-domesticated plant, hemp has many desirable traits that require improvement, including eliminating seed shattering, enhancing the quantity and quality of stem fiber, and increasing the accumulation of phytocannabinoids. Methods to manipulate the sex of hemp plants will also be important for optimizing yields of seed, fiber, and cannabinoids. Currently, research into trait improvement is hindered by the lack of molecular techniques adapted to hemp. Here we review how addressing these limitations will help advance our knowledge of plant biology and enable us to fully domesticate and maximize the agronomic potential of this promising crop.

在整个人类历史上，大麻一直是食品，纤维和药物的重要农作物。尽管国际研究界取得了重大进展，但对大麻植物的基本生物学仍知之甚少。需要明确的目标来指导未来的研究。作为半驯化的植物，大麻具有许多需要改良的理想特性，包括消除种子破碎，提高茎纤维的数量和质量以及增加植物大麻素的积累。操纵大麻植物性别的方法对于优化种子，纤维和大麻素的产量也很重要。当前，由于缺乏适合于大麻的分子技术，阻碍了对性状改良的研究。