Washington and Tokyo

Two Japanese molecular biologists have been charged with espionage in the United States in a move that researchers in Japan say could sour scientific relations between the two countries.

Serizawa (inset, right) and Okamoto are charged with supplying material to RIKEN's Brain Science Institute. Credit: AP/KYONO NEWS

The biologists are accused of stealing materials from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation (CCF) in Ohio and passing them on to the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN) in Japan, which is mainly funded by the Japanese government.

Researchers and government officials in Japan greeted news of the charges with some consternation. At RIKEN, where one of the biologists now works, officials denied that the centre had any involvement in espionage.

Japanese researchers are worried that the incident could make them targets for unwarranted suspicion in American laboratories. “Using words like 'espionage' could ruin any hope of establishing trust between researchers,” says Akiyoshi Wada, director of RIKEN's Genomic Sciences Center. “It's scary.”

Pharmaceutical industry officials are also concerned that the case could tarnish the reputation of one of Japan's premier research institutes, which has industrial contracts with many companies.

At a press conference on 11 May, the day after the charges were made public, a RIKEN official expressed his frustration that US prosecutors could allege that RIKEN stood to benefit from the theft without first contacting the institute.

Takashi Okamoto and Hiroaki Serizawa were indicted by a federal grand jury last week on charges of economic espionage for allegedly stealing DNA constructs and cell lines from Okamoto's laboratory in the CCF's Lerner Research Institute.

This is thought to be the first time that molecular biologists have been charged under the 1996 Economic Espionage Act, which chiefly aims to deter theft of trade secrets in areas such as computing. It is also the first of about two dozen prosecutions under the act in which the theft is alleged to benefit a foreign government.

Okamoto, who researches Alzheimer's disease, is alleged to have taken reagents from the laboratory that he headed for two and a half years shortly before moving to RIKEN's Brain Science Institute. He is also accused of sabotaging reagents and laboratory notes. RIKEN is carrying out its own internal investigation, which Okamoto says will clear him of the charges.

Serizawa, now at the University of Kansas Medical Center, was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on 9 May. He was charged with helping Okamoto take the samples to Japan and with giving false information to the FBI. Two other unnamed accomplices were not indicted.

The indictment charges that Okamoto and an unnamed co-conspirator entered Okamoto's lab on the evening of 8 July 1999, removed some DNA and cell lines and destroyed the rest. The next day, the missing reagents were noted and the police, and then the FBI, were informed.

“We thought that the police should be called in,” says George Stark, director of the Lerner Institute. “There was no question about what to do.” But some researchers expressed surprise at the FBI's involvement — especially given the frequency with which biologists take materials when they change jobs.

On 26 July, after the investigation into the case had started, Okamoto resigned his position at the CFF to start his new post at RIKEN on 3 August. According to the indictment, Okamoto had accepted the job at RIKEN in April 1999. The indictment also says that Okamoto had shipped the samples to Serizawa in Kansas City and then retrieved them during a short trip in mid-August.

Okamoto and Serizawa are alleged to have committed economic espionage by stealing “trade secrets” from the CCF, “specifically, 10 DNA and cell-line reagents”, to benefit RIKEN.

The charge that the Japanese government benefited from an economic espionage crime is a politically sensitive one — especially as the United States will need Japan's cooperation to extradite Okamoto.

Economic espionage charges carry a stiff penalty of up to 15 years in prison, $500,000 in fines, or both. Okamoto and Serizawa are also charged with transport of stolen property across state lines and conspiracy.