national Youhuang Xiang, a postdoctoral fellow at Innes Lab at the Department of Biology at Indiana University Bloomington, was arrested for smuggling genetic material from E. coli bacteria into the US on Nov 25. Xiang entered the country in 2023 on a J-1 educational exchange visa to secure a postdoctoral position at the school.
In Mar 2024, Xiang requested that a person in China referred to as “Individual A” ship plasmid DNA from E. coli bacteria to his home in Bloomington, Indiana. The material was shipped to him shortly after, concealed in a package of clothing items that “Individual A” declared included a men’s vest and women’s underwear. The package allegedly came from Guangzhou Sci Tech Innovation Trading.
More than a year later, on Nov 23, 2025, Xiang landed in Chicago after returning from a trip to London, where agents with Customs and Border Protection questioned him. During that interview, he lied to them about the package he had sent to his home and about his ties to the Chinese government.
Xiang was scheduled to remain at Indiana University through 2027 and was leading a research program focused on genome editing in wheat plants to increase resistance to fungal diseases.
The FBI was made aware of the shipment by CBP as part of an investigation into biological materials being smuggled into the US from China, which is why he was questioned on Nov 23.
Information provided to the FBI by CBP included information about the history of shipments from China to certain individuals at IU conducting research into wheat pathogen resistance. That information indicated that Xiang was associated with that research and that Xiang received a shipment from China at his residence on Mar 28, 2024.
The FBI also thought it was “odd” that Xiang purchased and shipped “women’s underwear from China, and further assessed it as peculiar that a company by the name ‘Guangzhou Sci Tech Innovation Trading’ would sell underwear or clothing.”
A paper written by Xiang also listed his affiliation with the National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics in Shanghai, which raised flags for investigators.
“I know from my training and experience that the PRC ‘Key Laboratories’ are overseen by the Chinese Government and have a history of concerning actions including technology transfer and theft of intellectual property.”
https://dailywire.com/news/chinese-national-accused-of-smuggling-e-coli-dna-into-united-states…
national Youhuang Xiang, a postdoctoral fellow at Innes Lab at the Department of Biology at Indiana University Bloomington, was arrested for smuggling genetic material from E. coli bacteria into the US on Nov 25. Xiang entered the country in 2023 on a J-1 educational exchange visa to secure a postdoctoral position at the school.
In Mar 2024, Xiang requested that a person in China referred to as “Individual A” ship plasmid DNA from E. coli bacteria to his home in Bloomington, Indiana. The material was shipped to him shortly after, concealed in a package of clothing items that “Individual A” declared included a men’s vest and women’s underwear. The package allegedly came from Guangzhou Sci Tech Innovation Trading.
More than a year later, on Nov 23, 2025, Xiang landed in Chicago after returning from a trip to London, where agents with Customs and Border Protection questioned him. During that interview, he lied to them about the package he had sent to his home and about his ties to the Chinese government.
Xiang was scheduled to remain at Indiana University through 2027 and was leading a research program focused on genome editing in wheat plants to increase resistance to fungal diseases.
The FBI was made aware of the shipment by CBP as part of an investigation into biological materials being smuggled into the US from China, which is why he was questioned on Nov 23.
Information provided to the FBI by CBP included information about the history of shipments from China to certain individuals at IU conducting research into wheat pathogen resistance. That information indicated that Xiang was associated with that research and that Xiang received a shipment from China at his residence on Mar 28, 2024.
The FBI also thought it was “odd” that Xiang purchased and shipped “women’s underwear from China, and further assessed it as peculiar that a company by the name ‘Guangzhou Sci Tech Innovation Trading’ would sell underwear or clothing.”
A paper written by Xiang also listed his affiliation with the National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics in Shanghai, which raised flags for investigators.
“I know from my training and experience that the PRC ‘Key Laboratories’ are overseen by the Chinese Government and have a history of concerning actions including technology transfer and theft of intellectual property.”
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