Last week, federal agents arrested Yunqing Jian, a 33-year-old University of Michigan scholar from China, on charges of attempting to smuggle a hazardous biological pathogen, Fusarium graminearum, into the U.S. Jian and her boyfriend, Zunyong Liu, 34, allegedly conspired to import the fungus, a potential agroterrorism weapon, for research at a University of Michigan lab.

Similarly, Chengxuan Han, a Chinese Ph.D. student from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, was charged with smuggling biological materials into the U.S. and lying to federal authorities. Han was detained this weekend at Detroit Metropolitan Airport upon arriving from China on a J1 visa.

Roundworms are parasitic nematodes (i.e. parasitic worms or fungus) that can infect humans and animals. The parasites can also result in various diseases depending on the species and the affected tissues or organs, impacting both humans and animals.

However, the criminal complaint and official statements have not disclosed the specific species or strain of roundworm involved, referring only to biological material related to roundworms without taxonomic specifics.

A common roundworm used in research is Caenorhabditis elegans, a non-parasitic, transparent nematode about 1 mm long, found in temperate soil. Widely studied in genetics, neuroscience, and developmental biology due to its simple structure, short life cycle, and fully sequenced genome, C. elegans does not infect mammals or cause disease.

If Han was transporting C. elegans, the reason for secrecy is unclear. It is very likely, however, the Chinese students involved in smuggling them in had ulterior motives.