Viruses stolen from high-security laboratory spark controversy in Brazil

The samples allegedly taken from the laboratory by an Argentine researcher, which included viruses such as chikungunya and dengue, have already been recovered, but the motivations for the case remain unclear.

At the end of last month, the Brazilian Federal Police detained an investigator for allegedly having taken virus samples from a high-security biosafety laboratory at one of the country’s main universities.

To researcher, Soledad Palameta Millera PhD professor and virologist at the State University of Campinas (Unicamp), was released on bail on March 24 and faces charges that include theft.

According to Globo’s podcast, authorities have already recovered the missing samples, including viruses such as chikungunya, dengue and Epstein–Barr.

In addition to the Argentine investigator, her husband, the American veterinarian, is also suspected of involvement in the case. Michael Edward Millerpartner in a biotechnology company and PhD student at the Unicamp Biology Institute.

The National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) reported, at the beginning of this month, that it evaluated the recovered samples and concluded that they did not pose a risk for public health.

The news caused a stir among members of the Brazilian virology community, who asked themselves How could such a failure occur? in a laboratory classified as biosafety level 3 (BSL-3), the second highest security category.

The community is “perplexed”states Paulo Sanchesvirologist at the Universidade Estadual Paulista, in Araraquara, cited by . “No sample can leave a laboratory with this level of biosafety without authorization.”

The case comes at a time when Brazil seeks to gather support for the construction of its first BSL-4 laboratory, the maximum level of biosecurity, just a few kilometers from Unicamp.

Police investigation

The samples were taken from Unicamp’s Laboratory of Virology and Applied Biotechnology. BSL-3 installations of this type have air filters and containment systems that allow researchers to safely study potentially lethal and inhalation-transmissible pathogens.

Paulo Sanches, who coordinates another BSL-3 laboratory in Brazil, states that access to this type of facilities is tightly controlled.

Although incidents like this are not systematically recorded in Brazil, it is likely to be extremely raresays Sanches. As a point of comparison, a North American program that monitors incidents in biosafety and public laboratories has not recorded any theft since these reports began in 2015.

Soledad Miller, who works at the Faculty of Food Engineering at Unicamp, was not authorized to remove materials of the BSL-3 facilities, despite having previously worked there as a postdoctoral fellow. The husband is do a PhD in this laboratory.

According to a court document obtained by Nature, a researcher at the Unicamp laboratory detected, in February, the disappearance of several samples of viruses.

According to Fantástico’s investigation, video surveillance images showed Michael Miller leaving the premises at unusual times“late at night or very early in the morning, always carrying something”. Lab members warned university officialsand the Federal Police were notified.

On March 21, the police carried out searches at Unicamp and found the samples missing, according to the court document. Some were at the Faculty of Food Engineering, in a laboratory that Soledad Miller shares with other researchers.

The Argentine researcher was arrested on March 23after the police concluded that tried to eliminate evidence after initial searches. Michael Miller was not arrested or charged.

“As the material was stored at the Faculty of Food Engineering, where the suspected professor worked, the responsibility for this conduct falls on her,” the head of the Federal Police in Campinas told Fantástico, André Ribeiro. “Whether her husband or anyone else helped her will be determined in the investigation.”

The Brazilian Society of Virology stated, in a statement, that it is closely monitoring the situation. The association highlighted that the biosafety systems in force proved to be effective: Samples were quickly recovered and contained, and authorities promptly took appropriate action.

Security concerns

Clarice Weis Arnsresponsible for the laboratory where the samples disappeared, refused to answer Nature’s questions, saying that she had been instructed by Unicamp not to speak to the media.

She is currently Michael Miller’s doctoral advisor and has authored scientific articles with him and Soledad. Soledad’s mentions that the three of them are work together in projects related to respiratory syncytial virus, infectious bronchitis virus and vaccine production.

Unicamp did not disclose which viruses disappearedalthough it stated, in an official statement, that none of them were genetically modified.

If the list of viruses put forward by Fantástico is correct, none of them would necessarily require containment in a BSL-3 laboratory, he says Maurício Nogueiravirologist at the Faculty of Medicine of São José do Rio Preto.

This is because, according to Brazilian regulations, these viruses represent only one moderate risk to laboratory workers and have limited potential for community spread. Furthermore, there are vaccines or treatments to control them.

Still, the rules vary from country to country. In the USA, for example, the chikungunya virus would have to be restricted to a BSL-3 laboratory, highlights Nature.

Nogueira, who currently works with some of the viruses mentioned by Fantástico and is a former president of the Brazilian Society of Virology, says that the Brazilian virology community hasin a strong tradition of collaboration.

If another scientist had asked him or his colleagues to share the viruses cited by Fantástico, would probably have acceptedunder formal agreements. “The big question we have been discussing at the Brazilian Society of Virology is: Why would anyone steal these viruses??”

The virologist also says he does not understand why Unicamp has not yet publicly released the list of missing viruses and maintains that this disclosure is important for quell the fears of the population.

The university stated that it is “keep technical details confidential and the identities of those involved” to “preserve the integrity of people and the effectiveness of the investigation”, as well as to “avoid misinterpretations”.

Nogueira fears that the lack of information could affect public trust in scientific institutions, at a particularly sensitive moment, given the construction, nearby, of the future BSL-4 installation.