Dr. Umut Toprak is a Professor of Entomology at Ankara University, Türkiye, and the founder and Principal Investigator of the Molecular Entomology Laboratory (MOLEN) in the Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture. He completed his PhD in the Department of Biology at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, in 2011. His international research experience includes visits to Purdue University, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Pennsylvania State University, Iowa State University, and Kiel University. He was appointed Assistant Professor at Ankara University in 2013 and became Professor in 2022. He is also co-founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of AgriAncyra Biotech and Molecular Plant Protection Industries (MPPI), connecting academic research with biotechnology and biological product development.
Umut’s research combines molecular insect physiology, biochemistry, and pathology with the development of microbial biopesticides and next-generation RNA- and peptide-based biopesticides. His expertise encompasses insect midgut and peritrophic matrix biology, host–pathogen interactions, lipid metabolism, calcium homeostasis, diapause, and neuropeptide signalling. His microbial biopesticide research includes entomopathogenic fungi (EPFs), baculoviruses, and insect-pathogenic bacteria, particularly Bacillus thuringiensis. Alongside these approaches, his group investigates double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) for RNA interference (RNAi) and insecticidal peptides, including those inspired by spider venoms, to target essential insect physiological processes.
His applied research extends from biological-agent selection and efficacy testing to production, formulation, stability, delivery, and evaluation under greenhouse and field conditions. He provides scientific leadership for a TAGEM-supported project developing fungal biopesticide formulations against the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys, working with Tarkim and academic and public research partners. His programme also includes biological mosquito larvicides based on Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis (Bti) and Lysinibacillus sphaericus, including powder, granular, and controlled-release briquette formulations. His RNAi research addresses target selection, delivery, resistance management, and insect physiological responsiveness, including the Primed RNAi approach. MOLEN’s expanded fermentation and drying infrastructure supports the development and evaluation of biological product prototypes. Across his career, he has led and contributed to research projects with a combined budget exceeding US$2.8 million.
A separate strand of his research uses insect models to investigate mechanisms relevant to obesity, fat accumulation, and fatty liver disease. Working particularly with the Colorado potato beetle, his group examines how nutritional state, diapause, calcium homeostasis, and hormonal signalling regulate lipid storage and mobilisation. These studies combine transcriptomics, proteomics, lipidomics, and functional gene analysis to investigate the molecular control of energy balance. Recent work also explores responses to GLP-1 and dual GLP-1/GIP agonists in insects, assessing feeding, body weight, triglyceride reserves, and insulin-related responses. This research aims to identify conserved metabolic mechanisms and provide new experimental perspectives on lipid metabolism disorders.
Umut has authored or co-authored more than 70 scientific articles, and his work had received over 3,600 citations in Google Scholar as of September 2026. His publications have appeared in PNAS, Annual Review of Entomology, BMC Biology, Communications Biology, The ISME Journal, Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Insect Molecular Biology, Journal of Insect Physiology, and Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology, among other journals. He is also co-editor, with Laura Musselman, of Insect Lipid Metabolism, published by Springer in 2026 as Volume 1494 of the Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology series.
Umut has been repeatedly included in the Stanford/Elsevier list of the world’s top 2% of scientists based on single-year citation impact, including in the 2026 edition. His awards include the Science Award of Ankara University’s Faculty of Agriculture (2019), Early Career Awards from Ankara University (2016) and the Chamber of Agricultural Engineers, TMMOB (2014), the Mauro E. Martignoni Student Award from the Society for Invertebrate Pathology (2010), the Pest Management Research Graduate Student Award from the Canadian Society of Agronomy (2010), and the Arthur R. Brooks Award from the Entomological Society of Saskatchewan (2008).
Umut is a member of the Entomological Society of America, the Society for Invertebrate Pathology, and the Entomological Society of Türkiye. He serves as the Physiology, Biochemistry, and Toxicology Section Representative on the Entomological Society of America’s Publication Council, a Regional Ambassador for the Society for Invertebrate Pathology, and a Praesidium Member of the European Congress of Entomology. He also represents Türkiye on the Management Committee of COST Action CA23127, GIN-TONIC, contributing to international collaboration on insect nutrition, digestive physiology, and lipid metabolism.
Umut is the Chair of the 3rd International Molecular Plant Protection Congress (IMPPC2027), which will take place in Antalya, Türkiye, on 23–27 May 2027. The congress programme includes three Nobel laureates: Brian Kobilka, Craig C. Mello, and Martin Chalfie, alongside researchers, industry leaders, and regulatory experts working on molecular plant protection. He previously organised and chaired IMPPC2019 in Adana, IMPPC2023 in Bursa, and the 5th International Entomopathogens and Microbial Control Congress in Ankara in 2015. At IMPPC2023, he also chaired and moderated the opening lecture delivered by Craig C. Mello, co-discoverer of RNA interference and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
His wider conference activities include organising international symposia on insect lipid metabolism, peritrophic matrix biology, and host–pathogen interactions at meetings of the Entomological Society of America and the Society for Invertebrate Pathology. He served on the steering and organising committees of the XII European Congress of Entomology in Crete in 2023, where he coordinated the insect physiology and biochemistry sessions. In October 2026, he participated as an invited speaker and panellist in the OECD-supported international symposium “Informing Policy: The Role of RNAi-Based Pesticides in Sustainable Agriculture”.
Umut has delivered invited lectures at institutions including Harvard University, Michigan State University, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the University of Michigan, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Purdue University, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, and the University of Saskatchewan. His lectures address molecular insect physiology, metabolic regulation, biological pest management, and emerging biopesticide technologies.
He currently serves as an Associate Editor of Insect Molecular Biology and of the Insect Molecular Genetics section of Frontiers in Insect Science. His editorial board appointments include Scientific Reports, New Plant Protection, Journal of Insect Physiology, Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology, Frontiers in Physiology, Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology, Journal of Agricultural Sciences, Turkish Journal of Entomology, and Bulletin of Plant Protection.
His guest-editing work includes “From Fat to Fact: Recent Insights on Insect Lipid Metabolism” in Insect Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; “Molecular Insights into Insect Physiological Systems I” and “Molecular Insights into Insect Physiological Systems II” in Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology; and “The Peritrophic Matrix: From Past to Future” in Journal of Insect Physiology.
Following IMPPC2023, he edited two collections published in 2025: “Recent Insights into RNAi in Insect Biology and Pest Management” in Insect Molecular Biology and “Recent Insights into Insect Physiology & Biochemistry” in Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology. He also guest-edited the “Molecular Physiology” themed issue of Current Opinion in Insect Science, introduced in his editorial overview, “The hidden engines of insect life: The cellular machinery driving physiology”.
Alongside his academic and entrepreneurial activities, Umut contributes to public discussion of science through television and radio interviews, public lectures, and engagement with farmers, industry, and public institutions. His contributions address biological alternatives to conventional pesticides, invasive pests, sustainable agriculture, insect biology, and the wider relevance of metabolic research.
Umut also writes Kral Çıplak (“The Emperor Has No Clothes”), a column on the MOLEN website guided by the motto “Science, academia and the system, unvarnished.” His essays explore academic culture, merit, leadership, research ethics, mentoring, and the institutional incentives that shape scientific work. He writes critically about systemic problems in academia, publication metrics, peer review, and the economics of scientific publishing, while also drawing on the history of science and his own experiences as a researcher. Combining critical observation, humour, and personal reflection, the column addresses friendship, gratitude, loss, and the human relationships through which scientific knowledge and values pass between generations.