Why Biology Will Shape the Next Generation of Crop Protection

Written by Prof. Dr. Umut Toprak
Chief Technology Officer, MPPI

For more than half a century, modern agriculture has relied heavily on synthetic chemical pesticides to reduce crop losses and secure food production. These technologies have made an important contribution to feeding a growing global population. We cannot ignore that contribution.

But yesterday’s success is not necessarily tomorrow’s only answer.

The rapid evolution of pesticide resistance, increasing regulatory pressure, the need to protect biodiversity, environmental concerns and changing consumer expectations now demand a different—and more intelligent—approach to crop protection.

This transition does not mean the end of conventional chemistry. At least not for now. Chemical products will continue to be important components of crop protection. However, biological solutions offering new modes of action, greater target specificity and additional tools for resistance management will occupy an increasingly prominent place in crop protection portfolios.

Chemistry will not disappear, but the centre of gravity in crop protection will gradually shift toward biology.

The return to biology is therefore not a step backwards. On the contrary, it is a step forward—made possible by our growing ability to understand and use living systems at the molecular level.

A Biology-Centred Shift in Crop Protection

Many conventional pesticides were developed around a basic question:

Which organisms can this compound control?

Biological technologies reverse the question:

Where in the biology of the target organism should we intervene?

That is where the difference begins.

Many of these technologies interact with specific genes, proteins, receptors, metabolic processes or host–pathogen relationships. Some draw on mechanisms shaped by millions of years of evolution. This makes it possible to control pests and pathogens more precisely while reducing unintended effects on non-target organisms and surrounding ecosystems.

Today, advances in molecular biology, microbiology, biotechnology, bioinformatics and formulation science are taking biological crop protection far beyond its former niche. Biology is no longer simply a source of new active ingredients; it is becoming a new starting point for how we design crop protection technologies.

Three Technology Platforms Driving the Transformation

Biological crop protection encompasses a wide range of approaches. However, three major technology platforms are emerging at the forefront: RNA technologies, protein technologies and microbial technologies.

They are not alternatives to one another. They are different tools of the same transformation.

RNA Technologies

RNA interference (RNAi) selectively reduces the expression of an essential gene in a target organism.

RNA technologies begin not with a chemical compound, but with the genetic sequence information of the target. This is where their remarkable biological specificity comes from.

This feature creates new possibilities for managing insects, fungal pathogens and plant viruses that are difficult to control using existing methods. Progress in RNA design, production, delivery and formulation is now taking these technologies beyond the laboratory and transforming them into practical crop protection tools.

Protein Technologies

Nature produces an extraordinary diversity of proteins, peptides, toxins and enzymes capable of affecting critical biological processes.

In fact, nature has been designing molecules directed at specific biological targets for millions of years. Our task is to find them, understand them, improve them and carry them into the field.

Bioactive proteins and peptides can interact with receptors, ion channels, enzymes and other physiological targets in pests and pathogens. Advances in recombinant production and protein engineering are making it increasingly possible to optimise these molecules and manufacture them at scale.

Their diversity is particularly valuable for developing new modes of action and supporting long-term resistance management.

Microbial Technologies

Microbial technologies are the oldest, but by no means outdated, branch of this story.

Microbial agents have contributed to biological control and plant health for decades. Today, advances in genomics, microbial ecology, fermentation and formulation are enabling the development of more consistent, effective and sophisticated microbial products.

Bacteria, fungi, insect-specific viruses and bacteriophages can be used to suppress pests and plant pathogens, promote plant health and support more resilient production systems. Microbial diversity also provides a vast source of metabolites, proteins and other active molecules for future innovation.

From Biological Potential to Practical Value

Of course, biology is not perfect.

Living organisms and biomolecules can be affected by ultraviolet radiation, temperature, enzymatic degradation, application timing and other environmental conditions. Their biological nature gives them unique advantages, but it can also create new challenges that must be solved under field conditions.

A promising mechanism becomes a practical agricultural technology only when it can be formulated, manufactured, stored and delivered reliably and economically.

An idea that works in the laboratory is not yet a technology unless it also works in the field.

Field performance, scalability and ease of use are therefore just as important as biological activity. The next generation of biological crop protection will emerge where advanced biology meets effective formulation, manufacturing and application technologies.

Looking Ahead

Biology does not offer a single, universal substitute for conventional pesticides. Nor does it need to.

Its real strength lies in providing a diverse and complementary set of tools that can be selected according to the target organism, crop, production system and environmental conditions.

Future crop protection programmes will increasingly combine chemical, biological and molecular solutions within more precise and integrated management strategies.

The growing importance of biological systems and biomolecules will do more than add new products to existing portfolios. It will change the question we ask.

Instead of beginning with a chemical compound and asking, “What can this control?”, we will begin with the biology of the target and ask, “Where and how should we intervene?”

The next generation of crop protection will be defined not by how broadly a product acts, but by how accurately it reads the biology of its target. The future of crop protection will belong not to the technologies with the broadest effects, but to those with the most precise aim.