Judge Confirms Unicamp Samples Were Viruses in Federal Police Lab-Theft Probe

Overview

• Federal Police opened an inquiry after Unicamp reported missing research material and, on Monday, executed search warrants, recovered the samples on campus, and arrested a professor.
• A judicial record released Tuesday identified the seized material as virus samples and a judge granted the suspect provisional release with travel limits, a monthly check-in, a bond, and a ban from the implicated labs.
• The tubes and vials were found in freezers and trash in labs at the Food Engineering school and the Institute of Biology, and the set was sent to the Ministry of Agriculture for technical analysis.
• Investigators said potential charges include qualified theft, procedural fraud, and irregular transport of genetically modified organisms, and they flagged danger from handling viral samples outside controlled facilities.
• Unicamp said it is cooperating with Federal Police and Anvisa, briefly closed and then reopened FEA research labs as a precaution, and opened an internal inquiry as agencies analyze material taken from an NB-3 area, the highest biosafety level currently operating in Brazil.