Acclaimed biologist Xu Xianzhong has returned to China and joined the Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation as a senior investigator. The move follows the arrest last year of three researchers from his former laboratory at the University of Michigan on smuggling charges.
Xu, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, has joined the academy’s Institute of Bio-Architecture and Bio-Interactions. He previously conducted research at the University of Michigan.
Three researchers from his laboratory were arrested late last year. They were charged with conspiracy to smuggle biological materials into the United States, according to the US Justice Department. One researcher was additionally accused of making false statements to customs and border protection officers.
In a November statement, 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.” Criminal complaints indicated that two of the researchers received multiple shipments of concealed biological materials related to roundworms from China.