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Accusations of international espionage are shaking the quiet academic world
of Alzheimer’s disease research. Last week, two Japanese scientists with
research ties in the US were charged with the federal crime of economic
espionage to benefit a foreign power. The pair allegedly stole DNA samples and
cell lines used to study Alzheimer’s from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in
Ohio and gave them to RIKEN, a government-funded research institute in Japan.
They are also accused of sabotaging the remaining samples. “Alzheimer’s work in
that lab has come to a screeching halt,” says George Stark of CCF. Both of the
accused men…