Scientific knowledge may be universal but scientists can suffer discrimination and persecution like everyone else. Recent reports of Chinese researchers in the United States being accused of smuggling biological materials suggest carelessness on the part of the researchers or, more likely, deliberate scapegoating by US law enforcement agencies. They appear to fit an enduring pattern of official harassment against Chinese scientists under the guise of combating industrial espionage and intellectual property theft.The cases involved several scientists previously associated with the University of Michigan, a leading US research university. They were arrested publicly, detained and deported – in other words, they…