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India.com
3 days ago
- Health
- India.com
Biohazard Hidden In A Tissue, Stashed In A Backpack: How Two Scientists Tried Sneaking The Crop-Killing Fungus Into US
New Delhi: Two Chinese researchers, Yunqing Jian (33) and Zunyong Liu (34), stand accused of bringing into the United States a deadly agricultural pathogen tucked away inside tissue paper. The fungus, Fusarium graminearum, is a crop-killer that can silently devastate wheat, barley, maize and rice – which are staples of global food security. The mold also carries the terrifying potential to cause vomiting, reproductive defects, liver damage and more in humans and animals. According to an FBI affidavit, when agents tested the smuggled material, they discovered DNA sequences that would allow anyone with biological knowledge to propagate the fungus in a lab. In other words, it was a ticking agroterrorism time bomb. Though the two researchers, believed to be romantically involved, are not charged with trying to weaponise the pathogen, Liu allegedly smuggled it into the United States knowingly and hid it in his backpack. They never even applied for the USDA permit required for importing such biohazards. Now, they are facing a mountain of federal charges – conspiracy, smuggling, false statements and visa fraud. A Silent Killer, a Growing Global Threat Fusarium graminearum is no ordinary fungus. Once it takes hold, it causes Fusarium Head Blight (FHB), also called 'scab'. To the untrained eye, it looks like discolored lesions. But for farmers, it is a nightmare. 'In just a few weeks before harvest, it can destroy an entire field of what once promised a record yield,' CNN has quoted plant pathology expert Gary Bergstrom from Cornell University as saying. The FHB has already inflicted billions of dollars in damage - $2.7 billion to be precise, across the central United States and Northern Plains between 1998 and 2000 alone. And it has not stopped. The fungus survives winters on infected wheat straw and corn stalks, waiting for warm and wet weather to unleash a new wave of spores. Those spores do not only ruin crops, they poison them as well. Grains infected with FHB contain vomitoxin (DON), a powerful mycotoxin linked to gastrointestinal disorders, neuroendocrine damage and even immune suppression in both humans and animals. In livestock, it leads to diarrhea, hemorrhaging and skin issues. And though food processing reduces levels, the United States FDA has strict guidelines to keep DON out of the food chain. How Dangerous Could This Be? Why would someone smuggle a known agricultural biohazard into the United States? Investigators have not found proof of malicious intent, but Liu – despite knowing the USDA restrictions – allegedly brought the fungus anyway. Experts are warning that even unintentional import of a foreign fungal strain could be catastrophic. 'If a new trait enters our environment, like resistance to current fungicides or increased toxin output, it could cripple our defenses,' Bergstrom told CNN. Adding to the fear is the fungus's growing resistance to existing fungicides. Recent studies from Poland confirm that Fusarium graminearum is mutating fast. Traditional methods are faltering, and researchers are scrambling to develop new fungicides and resistant crop strains. As the USDA and federal prosecutors investigate, the world watches closely. Not because two scientists crossed a dangerous line but because the invisible threat they allegedly carried with them could, under the right conditions, ripple through the world's food supply. And it all started with a fungus. Hidden in a tissue. Stashed in a backpack.
Associated Press
4 days ago
- Health
- Associated Press
What is Fusarium graminearum, the fungus US authorities say was smuggled in from China?
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors charged two Chinese researchers on Tuesday with smuggling a crop-killing fungus into the U.S. last summer — charges that come amid heightened political tensions between the two countries and as the Trump administration moves to revoke visas from visiting Chinese students. Yunqing Jian and Zunyong Liu are charged with conspiracy, smuggling, making false statements and visa fraud for allegedly bringing the fungus Fusarium graminearum into the U.S. Jian, 33, was booked in a Detroit federal court. Liu, 34, is thought to be in China. According to the FBI, Liu had small baggies of the fungus stashed in his backpack when he flew to the U.S. last year and, after claiming ignorance about the plant material inside them, said he was planning to use it for research at a University of Michigan lab where Jian worked and where Liu previously worked. What is Fusarium head blight? Fusarium graminearum causes a disease called Fusarium head blight that can wipe out cereal crops such as wheat, barley and maize and rice — it inflicts $1 billion in losses annually on U.S. wheat and barley crops, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It isn't the only fungus to cause Fusarium head blight, but it's the most common culprit in the U.S. The fungus infects plants early in the growing season, shriveling wheat grains and blanching crop heads a whitish-tan color. It also causes a toxin to accumulate in wheat kernels that can make them unsafe for people and livestock to eat. Nicknamed 'vomitoxin' because it's most known for causing livestock to throw up, it can also cause diarrhea, abdominal pain, headache and fever in animals and people. Wheat and other grain crops are screened for various toxins, including Fusarium graminearum, before they can be used to feed animals and humans. Farmers have to throw out any infected grains, which can cause devastating losses. 'It's one of the many problems that farmers have to deal with that risks their livelihood,' said David Geiser, a Fusarium expert at Penn State. What are the accusations? Although Jian and Liu are accused of smuggling Fusarium graminearum into the country, the fungus is already prevalent in the U.S. — particularly in the east and Upper Midwest — and scientists have been studying it for decades. Researchers often bring foreign plants, animals and even strains of fungi to the U.S. to study them, but they must file certain permits before moving anything across state or national borders. Studying the genes of a foreign fungus strain, for example, can help scientists learn how it tolerates heat, resists pesticides or mutates. 'We look at variations among individuals just like we do humans,' said Nicole Gauthier, a plant pathologist at the University of Kentucky who studies Fusarium. That said, it's unclear why the Chinese researchers might have wanted to bring that strain of Fusarium graminearum into the U.S. and why they didn't fill out the proper paperwork to do so. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
The Independent
4 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
What is Fusarium graminearum, the fungus US authorities say was smuggled in from China?
Federal prosecutors charged two Chinese researchers on Tuesday with smuggling a crop-killing fungus into the U.S. last summer — charges that come amid heightened political tensions between the two countries and as the Trump administration moves to revoke visas from visiting Chinese students. Yunqing Jian and Zunyong Liu are charged with conspiracy, smuggling, making false statements and visa fraud for allegedly bringing the fungus Fusarium graminearum into the U.S. Jian, 33, was booked in a Detroit federal court. Liu, 34, is thought to be in China. According to the FBI, Liu had small baggies of the fungus stashed in his backpack when he flew to the U.S. last year and, after claiming ignorance about the plant material inside them, said he was planning to use it for research at a University of Michigan lab where Jian worked and where Liu previously worked. What is Fusarium head blight? Fusarium graminearum causes a disease called Fusarium head blight that can wipe out cereal crops such as wheat, barley and maize and rice — it inflicts $1 billion in losses annually on U.S. wheat and barley crops, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It isn't the only fungus to cause Fusarium head blight, but it's the most common culprit in the U.S. The fungus infects plants early in the growing season, shriveling wheat grains and blanching crop heads a whitish-tan color. It also causes a toxin to accumulate in wheat kernels that can make them unsafe for people and livestock to eat. Nicknamed 'vomitoxin' because it's most known for causing livestock to throw up, it can also cause diarrhea, abdominal pain, headache and fever in animals and people. Wheat and other grain crops are screened for various toxins, including Fusarium graminearum, before they can be used to feed animals and humans. Farmers have to throw out any infected grains, which can cause devastating losses. 'It's one of the many problems that farmers have to deal with that risks their livelihood,' said David Geiser, a Fusarium expert at Penn State. What are the accusations? Although Jian and Liu are accused of smuggling Fusarium graminearum into the country, the fungus is already prevalent in the U.S. — particularly in the east and Upper Midwest — and scientists have been studying it for decades. Researchers often bring foreign plants, animals and even strains of fungi to the U.S. to study them, but they must file certain permits before moving anything across state or national borders. Studying the genes of a foreign fungus strain, for example, can help scientists learn how it tolerates heat, resists pesticides or mutates. 'We look at variations among individuals just like we do humans,' said Nicole Gauthier, a plant pathologist at the University of Kentucky who studies Fusarium. That said, it's unclear why the Chinese researchers might have wanted to bring that strain of Fusarium graminearum into the U.S. and why they didn't fill out the proper paperwork to do so. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
