Renowned biologist Xu Xianzhong has returned to China, taking up a full-time position in the southern tech hub of Shenzhen, months after four researchers in his laboratory at the University of Michigan were accused by the United States of “biological material smuggling”.
Xu, a fellow of the prestigious American Association for the Advancement of Science – has joined the Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation (SMART) as a senior investigator with its Institute of Bio-Architecture and Bio-Interactions.
Three researchers from Xu’s lab were arrested late last year, charged with conspiracy to smuggle biological materials into the US, with one additionally accused of making false statements to customs and border protection officers, according to the US Justice Department.
In a statement in November, then attorney general Pamela Bondi said the researchers were “apparently part of a long and alarming pattern of criminal activities committed by Chinese nationals under the cover of the University of Michigan”.
According to the criminal complaint, two of the researchers received multiple shipments containing “concealed biological materials related to roundworms” from China, while a third was charged with making false statements to federal agents.
They were charged after the arrest and deportation in June last year of the sender – another Chinese national working in Xu’s lab – prompted an investigation, the Justice Department statement said.
