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A visiting scientist at the University of Central Florida turned over his passport at a bail hearing on Tuesday after being arrested on suspicion of stealing DNA from tuberculosis research at the university’s Biomolecular Science Center, said Linda Gray, a university spokeswoman.
Singh L. Meena, who was still being held in jail on Wednesday, was arrested on March 24 after he was accused of taking eight vials containing cloned DNA pieces that were being used for research on cures for tuberculosis, according to a report from the university police department. He had been scheduled to return to India two days later.
The vials did not contain the tuberculosis pathogen and were harmless, said Pappachan E. Kolattukudy, director of the science center. He said that Mr. Meena, who held a fellowship at the center, had no access to the pathogen.
Mr. Meena also downloaded data from a recently completed tuberculosis study and then erased the data from the center’s computer, the police report says. The study contained promising information that could be used to create a drug for the disease and that could be sold, said Mr. Kolattukudy.
Mr. Meena, who is on leave from the Integrated Biology Institute in New Delhi, was on a one-year fellowship during which he studied the function of one tuberculosis gene.
Mr. Meena has not been officially charged, but he could be charged with an offense against intellectual property, a felony; eight counts of petty theft; and obstruction by false information. It is unclear what charges will be filed and what Mr. Meena’s intentions were when he took the materials, said Danielle Tavernier, a spokeswoman for the state attorney’s office for Orange and Osceola Counties.
Bail was set at $3,500, but it is unclear whether Mr. Meena posted the sum. He will be released to U.S. immigration officials, a representative of the Orange County Department of Corrections said.
