Chinese couple charged with smuggling a biological pathogen into the U.S.
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Re: Chinese couple charged with smuggling a biological pathogen into the U.S.
#2Could the research have been legitimate?
How is this research normally done?
Would that University of Michigan laboratory have the necessary biosafety level or no?
Re: Chinese couple charged with smuggling a biological pathogen into the U.S.
#3Could the research have been legitimate? How is this research normally done? Would that University of Michigan laboratory have the necessary biosafety level or no?
This is not how research is done. No.
If you are conducting research like this legitimately, there are whole sets of safety requirements , safety assessments, monitoring, in and on.
Re: Chinese couple charged with smuggling a biological pathogen into the U.S.
#4Could the research have been legitimate? How is this research normally done? Would that University of Michigan laboratory have the necessary biosafety level or no?
If you mean "was there actual scientific research being done here, not biological warfare" then the answer is yes, according to the article. They were studying this fungi in China, and were bringing samples into the US to continue that research. There's no indication the university was aware of what was going on though, and biosafety protocols were NOT being followed here.
Re: Chinese couple charged with smuggling a biological pathogen into the U.S.
#5Could the research have been legitimate? How is this research normally done? Would that University of Michigan laboratory have the necessary biosafety level or no?
> Could the research have been legitimate?
I assume yes.
> How is this research normally done?
You fill a lot of paperwork and get a lot of authorizations.
> Would that University of Michigan laboratory have the necessary biosafety level or no?
Perhaps. That is part of the details that go in the paperwork, and anyway not every request is aprobed because so some things are too risky.