Chinese researchers charged with smuggling ‘agroterrorism weapon' to infect Midwest crops

Harvest Public Media | By Masha Smahliuk

Published June 5, 2025 at 2:58 PM CDT

Researchers from across the Midwest say farmers in the U.S. and globally deal with Fusarium graminearum infecting wheat fields on a regular basis.

The FBI and Department of Justice hailed the arrests and charges as crucial in protecting national security and public safety. Researchers say the fungus is found in wheat and barley crops and is commonly studied.

The Department of Justice has charged two Chinese nationals with smuggling a fungus described as an “agroterrorism weapon” into Michigan.

FBI agents submitted a criminal complaint on June 2 claiming that University of Michigan student Yunqing Jian and her boyfriend Zunyong Liu brought Fusarium graminearum unlawfully, made several false statements about possessing the fungus and committed visa fraud.

The report also claims they intended to use the University of Michigan laboratory to research this fungus as part of a larger scheme to infect crops.

Cheyvoryea Gibson, special agent in charge of the FBI office in Detroit, said the arrest of the couple was an effort to uphold national security.

“These individuals exploited their access to laboratory facilities at a local university to engage in the smuggling of biological pathogens, an act that posed an imminent threat to public safety,” Gibson said in a press release. “The FBI remains resolutely committed to collaborating with our law enforcement partners to protect the residents of Michigan and defend the United States against such grave threats.”

Harvest Public Media needs your help.

Public media is under threat. Here's how you can stand up for local journalism.

Fusarium graminearum causes a disease in crops called Fusarium head and releases a vomitoxin that makes people and animals throw up, the United States Department of Agriculture wrote.

Jian has co-authored articles researching Fusarium graminearum at a university in China and came to the U.S. on a J1 visa with a research plan to study this fungus in a Texas university, according to the FBI report.

A common fungus in wheat and research

Roger Innes, a professor of biology at Indiana University who studies Fusarium graminearum said the fungus is commonly researched because it often infects wheat and barley, especially in the cool areas of the U.S.

“Its impact is really dependent on environmental conditions, and it requires this cool wet spring to get going,” he said.

Wheat specialist with Michigan State University Dennis Pennington said Fusarium graminearum infects wheat, corn and barley. “This is an important disease and ... to fund research to figure out ways to combat this disease is essential,” he said. “This is a food safety issue because if the vomitoxin gets into the grain, the elevators will either discount or they’ll actually deny delivery of a grain that’s infected.”

Innes said grain harvested from infected plants has large amounts of toxin that’s produced by the fungus. If people or animals ingest that grain, it causes vomiting.

But he said it’s unlikely the fungus could be used for widespread infections.

“It's already really common outside the lab, so it's highly unlikely that an accidental escape of that strain that was being brought in by this couple would have any impact over what's already out there.”

Similarly, Michigan State University wheat specialist Dennis Pennington said farmers in Michigan regularly deal with Fusarium graminearum in their wheat and corn fields.

That’s why, he said, it is unlikely that introducing samples of the fungus to Michigan wheat would cause a blow-up event.

“It would take a long time for this to build up and then you would have to have the right conditions,” Pennington said. “On top of that, we already have our producers typically put on a fungicide when the wheat is flowering to protect against this.”

The FBI’s criminal complaint states that the USDA requires a permit for bringing Fusarium graminearum into the U.S., which Jian and Liu never applied for.

In addition, the FBI alleges they found that Jian signed a pledge of loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party.

The University of Michigan issued a statement saying that they did not receive any funding from the Chinese government in relation to Jian’s research.

“We strongly condemn any actions that seek to cause harm, threaten national security or undermine the university’s critical public mission,” the statement read. “We have and will continue to cooperate with federal law enforcement in its ongoing investigation and prosecution.”

Harvest Public Media reached out to Jian and Liu’s defense attorney and did not receive an immediate response.

This story was produced in partnership with Harvest Public Media, a collaboration of public media newsrooms in the Midwest and Great Plains. It reports on food systems, agriculture and rural issues.