The FBI searched two labs in the Indiana University biology department last month. One of them employed a Chinese researcher who faces smuggling charges for bringing plasmid DNA from E. coli into the country.
FBI spokesperson Christine Bavender declined to share more information, saying the bureau does not comment on ongoing investigations.
The laboratories belong to professors Roger Innes and Xindan Wang, both microbiologists who work with bacteria.
Innes employed postdoctoral fellow Youhuang Xiang, who the FBI arrested in November.
DNA of E. coli plasmids is generally harmless and commonly researched in labs. One biology graduate student knowledgeable of the searches said that they often send and receive plasmids from out of the country.
Youhuang Xiang, a post-doctoral researcher and J-1 visa holder from China was charged with smuggling Escherichia coli (E. coli) into the U.S. and making false statements about it.
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) December 19, 2025
This is yet another example of a researcher from China - given the privilege to work at a U.S.…
But FBI Director Kash Patel accused Xiang in December of scheming to skirt US laws and possibly threaten the US food supply.
Both the FBI search and Xiang’s arrest came after Innes testified on behalf of another Chinese researcher at the University of Michigan accused of smuggling a fungus into the country. In that case, he said the researcher violated US laws but that the fungal strains in her luggage were not harmful to crops.
In its criminal complaint against Xiang, the FBI said it decided to investigate him after the Michigan case.
IU declined an interview request, but spokesperson Mark Bode said in a statement that IU expects faculty and staff to follow the law.
“We have no tolerance for conduct that violates IU policy or state and federal law and remain committed to cooperating with state and federal authorities,” he wrote.
