Alleged fraud cover-up revealed

Theft of swine bacteria from Michigan State staged to hide grant misuse, investigators say

| 2 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
2:00
Share

Federal prosecutors are pursuing a former Michigan State University employee suspected of faking the theft of a dangerous mutant strain of pig bacteria last fall as a ruse to hide the alleged misuse of $750,000 in research funds.

Revelation of the probe came during hearings last week before the House Appropriations subcommittee, and took Michigan State University executives by surprise. The school had been holding off on its own investigation out of deference to an ongoing federal inquiry, Robert Huggett, Michigan State's vice president for research and graduate studies, told The Scientist.

In her debut statement before Congress on Feb. 26, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Inspector General Phyllis K. Fong revealed that the virulent strain of pig pneumonia bacteria that was reported stolen from the laboratory of Martha Mulks last September never existed, a fact revealed in a joint investigation by Fong's office, the FBI and university police.

USDA-IG ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

  • Peg Brickley

    This person does not yet have a bio.
Share
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo
New Frontiers in Vaccine Development

New Frontiers in Vaccine Development

Sino

Products

Tecan Logo

Tecan introduces Veya: bringing digital, scalable automation to labs worldwide

Explore a Concise Guide to Optimizing Viral Transduction

A Visual Guide to Lentiviral Gene Delivery

Takara Bio
Inventia Life Science

Inventia Life Science Launches RASTRUM™ Allegro to Revolutionize High-Throughput 3D Cell Culture for Drug Discovery and Disease Research

An illustration of differently shaped viruses.

Detecting Novel Viruses Using a Comprehensive Enrichment Panel

Twist Bio