IU Biologist's Lab Reopened but Research Is Set Back

Indiana University Bloomington’s biology lab led by Roger Innes resumed operations nearly two weeks after federal officials ordered a lockdown. Innes said he has not received a clear explanation for the USDA closure and suspects retaliation connected to his public defense of Youhuang Xiang and other Chinese researchers investigated and deported. U.S. officials began investigating Xiang in November after a suspicious shipment from China was flagged. A search of Innes’s lab occurred in January, and the USDA initially notified him that the lab was in compliance, then retracted that notice shortly before the closure, claiming an automated system error. Innes said the lockout delayed his research by months. The university reported that USDA officials completed their work earlier than planned and restored access.

"Innes said he still hasn't received a clear explanation for why the United States Department of Agriculture told the university to close the lab, but he suspects it is retaliation for his speaking in defense of Youhuang Xiang, his former postdoc, and other Chinese researchers in the United States who have been investigated and deported in recent months. "The timing is just suspicious," Innes said. "I spoke out broadly to the press after my postdoc had been sentenced [in April] and was safely back in China ... And basically two weeks after that, I got this retraction on my compliance notification.""

"U.S. officials started investigating Xiang in November after flagging a "suspicious shipment " he received from China. The investigation prompted a search of Innes's lab in January, after which the USDA notified him and said his lab was in compliance with U.S. laws and regulations. But the agency retracted the notice shortly before the recent closure, telling him it had been sent in error. "[They said] there was some sort of automated system and they didn't realize the compliance notification had gone out," Innes said. "Honestly, that's very hard to believe.""

"Asked to comment on the reopening, a university spokesperson directed Inside Higher Ed to a Tuesday email from vice president of research Russell Mumper, who told biology faculty that USDA officials "completed their work earlier than planned" and that access to the closed lab space was being restored. Spokespeople from the USDA did not respond to a request for comment. Innes said the lockout set his research back by several months. He studies the immune system of plants with the goal of creating disease-resistant crop varieties that would minimize the necessity of fungicides and pesticid"

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