Oprins Plant has been involved in biotechnological research and development since 1985. Jan Oprins spearheaded the R&D program after attending master classes and workshops on tissue culture. Tissue culture propagation of bamboo was attempted by many scientists with only limited success in the laboratory. In the real world, research results that showed a propagation success rate of 5% obviously meant a 95% failure rate for commercial production. Jan Oprins was determined to find an economical and efficient way of commercially propagating ornamental bamboos and he invested significant time and financial resources into developing viable propagation methods. He assigned R&D activities to Johan Gielis who, in collaboration with Prof. P. Debergh of the University of Ghent, focused his efforts on understanding the botanical and genetic aspects of bamboo. Intensive research and experimentation on the micropropagation of bamboo led to one breakthrough after another. The pioneering development of tissue culture protocols for bamboo by Johan Gielis has allowed the company to mass propagate numerous temperate and tropical bamboo species on a commercial scale. The innovation of this research involved the in-vitro multiplication of tissues of mature bamboos, thus enabling motherplants with superior traits to be cloned. The elite clones or "super bamboos" are "true-to-type" and possess all the remarkable qualities of the mother plant.

The development of bamboo propagation techniques has opened new perspectives and possibilities for bamboo. Tissue culture protocols for bamboo were developed so that large numbers of ornamental bamboos could be supplied to the horticulture sector. However, since bamboo is one of the most important sources of wood in the tropics, prospects for developing large scale plantations of bamboo is now a reality. Oprins has developed protocols for many priority tropical bamboo species, including most species of the Dendrocalamus and Bambusa genera.

Successful mass propagation of bamboo by means of tissue culture has placed Oprins in a privileged and leading position in this field of research. Oprins continues to engage in biotechnological research on bamboos and other plants and through its dedicated research team of scientists and Ph.D. students. Most of Oprins' research is commercially oriented and results and innovations are protected as trade secrets. Oprins however openly contributes to the scientific community in areas of fundamental research such as taxonomy, particularly in the identification and classification of bamboo genera, species, and varieties by means of DNA fingerprinting.