China launches probe after PhD dropout claims national GMO testing centre faked records
Agricultural ministry investigating former doctoral student’s claims that laboratory fabricated maintenance records for dozens of projects on genetically modified organisms
China’s Ministry of Agriculture began an investigation on Tuesday into claims by a dropout from a top doctoral programme that maintenance reports for a laboratory testing GMO products were made up.
The move came only days after Wei Jingliang, a former PhD student at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences’ Institute of Animal Sciences, said a national GMO testing centre administered by the institute had forged lab maintenance records for dozens of projects on genetically modified organisms.
“An investigation by the Ministry of Agriculture will start to verify work at the institute and the academy will actively cooperate,” the academy said in a statement posted on its website on Monday. “Severe punishment will be handed out if the claims are confirmed,” it added.
Earlier on Monday the Beijing Youth Daily reported that the inquiry hoped to publish its findings within two days.
In an interview with the same newspaper, Wei claimed that the testing centre had doctored lab maintenance records ahead of a major inspection, and that he had electronic copies of the forged documents that related to 30 projects.