Somika’s lab spent the last two decades growing tissue culture in space saving, indoor vertical farming structures. Free from extreme weather conditions, these plants are healthy and disease-free. They also grow faster, have higher biomass and uniform growth. This means that farmers can get the same yield, in a shorter period of time, from a smaller piece of land. Less forestry then needs to be cleared, preserving biodiversity.

However, the extraction of economically important bioactive compounds require plants to grow in field. This approach is currently alienated by growth and production in in vitro cell, tissue cultures and the use of elicitors for enhancement. Green nanoparticles, when synthesized in the lab from medicinal plant extracts, can also demonstrate antibacterial, antioxidant, anticancer, plant growth stimulating and biomass enhancing properties.

Nevertheless, Somika’s lab achieved success in technical know-how transfer and licensing. A spin-off company was set up to produce one million tissue culture plants per annum. Innovative biotechnology platforms produced tissue cultures for large scale sustainable production of timbre, plywood, paper and pulp, rubber, and agarwood plantations. They were also deployed to produce high biomass and carbon sequestration trees for carbon credits and reforestation.

Simultaneously, Somika has successfully propagated critically endangered native tree species for environmental conservation in Singapore. She is also developing tissue and cell culture platforms for sustainable, in vitro production of bioactive pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and cosmetic ingredients.