Scientist / Senior Scientist, Insect Biology and Bioassays

We are seeking an insect biologist to develop cell-based and whole-insect assays for VLP delivery, payload expression, and bioinsecticidal activity in pest insects.

You will lead insect biology and bioassay development at Molagri. This role will build the assays we use to test whether our VLPs enter insect tissues and cells, deliver RNA payloads, express the intended payload, and drive insecticidal activity. You will work across insect cell assays, whole-insect bioassays, and outsourced studies with CROs. The goal is to generate clean, quantitative data that helps the team decide which VLPs, receptors, payloads, and pest species to advance.

You will:

• Develop insect-cell assays for particle uptake, RNA delivery, payload expression, and payload activity.
• Develop whole-insect bioassays for oral delivery, dose response, potency, speed of kill, growth inhibition, feeding inhibition, and species selectivity. 
• Establish assays in target pest species and relevant non-target insects.
• Design studies with appropriate controls, dose ranges, replication, endpoints, acceptance criteria, and statistical analysis.
• Build workflows that connect insect-cell data to oral activity and whole-insect potency.
• Run insect bioassays internally where appropriate and manage outsourced studies with CRO partners.
• Write CRO protocols, select assay formats, review raw data, and troubleshoot inconsistent or low-quality bioassay results.
• Partner with virology and protein engineering teammates to interpret failures in binding, uptake, delivery, payload expression, and potency.
• Maintain SOPs, assay records, and data packages that support VLP and payload progression.

What You Bring

• PhD in entomology, insect physiology, insect pathology, insect molecular biology, or a related field.
• Direct experience developing or testing bioinsecticides, including peptide/protein insecticides, insect viruses, RNAi actives, Bt, microbial insecticides, or related biological crop-protection products.
• Hands-on experience with insect bioassays such as diet overlay, oral droplet feeding, leaf-disc assays, topical application, injection, or plant-based feeding assays.
• Experience with agricultural pest species and the practical details of insect handling, staging, scoring, and assay reproducibility.
• Strong experimental design skills for dose-response studies, mortality scoring, sublethal phenotypes, positive and negative controls, and assay acceptance criteria.
• Working knowledge of insect cell culture, insect pathology, insect midgut biology, receptor-mediated uptake, RNAi, or host-pathogen interactions.
• Ability to analyze and interpret bioassay data and communicate clear technical recommendations.
• Ability to manage CRO studies without treating outsourced work as a black box.
• Excitement to work at the bench as part of a small technical team.

What We Value

Molagri is a small team building a novel bioinsecticide platform. We value scientists who design rigorous experiments, think creatively when the obvious approach fails, communicate clearly, and treat their teammates with kindness and respect. The right person for this role will be hands-on, hard-working, intellectually honest, and excited to help build a platform from first principles.