美國懷俄明大學中國籍微生物學研究生王愛麗(Aili Wang,音譯)涉嫌在一名同學茶中下毒,她被警方訊問後試圖離開美國,在機場遭到逮捕,據報她與這名正在申請專利的同學處不來。
美聯社報導,32歲的王愛麗本月6日在洛杉磯國際機場被捕。檢方指稱她當時試圖返回中國。她身上攜帶的筆記型電腦、電子儲存裝置及文件目前由警方保管。警方指稱監視器畫面拍到她翻查受害同學的桌子。受害人專攻疾病治療技術,與王愛麗曾在中國從事的研究類似。
王愛麗涉嫌透過線上拍賣網站電子海灣(eBay)購買化學物質丙烯醯胺(acrylamide),受害人的妻子等人最初在受害人用來泡茶的咖啡機中的水裡驗出這種化學物質。警方表示,王愛麗疑似去年買了丙烯醯胺後要求eBay刪除她的帳號。
負責指導這兩名研究生的微生物學教授戈梅爾斯基(Mark Gomelsky)表示,此事令他震驚不已。他不確定受害人能否完全康復。戈梅爾斯基說:「丙烯醯胺是一種無法中和的神經毒素,會留在神經元中,基本上會殺死神經元。因此,目前還不清楚他是否能完全康復。」
戈梅爾斯基告訴美聯社:「看到自己的學生生命受到威脅,另一名學生卻可能要為此負責,這實在令人心情低落。這是我職業生涯中最震撼的事件之一。」
警方是在受害人開始出現症狀以及他妻子等人從咖啡機水中驗出丙烯醯胺後展開調查。
受害人與校警在他與王愛麗於懷俄明大學(University of Wyoming)共用的辦公空間安裝監視器。
根據校警證詞,監視器據稱拍到王愛麗9月27日翻查受害人的桌子;10月1日拍到她在受害人桌上「拍照並翻動筆記本」,以及用自己杯中的液體沖洗受害人的馬克杯。王愛麗與受害人並未從事相同研究領域,兩人關係也不好。
王愛麗10月5日接受校警訊問時表示自己「多年來沒有使用過丙烯醯胺」。隔天她在洛杉磯遭到逮捕,當時攜帶「多部筆記型電腦、多個可攜式外接數位儲存裝置、相關配件、實體紀錄及書面資料」。
檢方要求將王愛麗引渡至懷俄明州並大幅提高保釋金,法官批准並將保釋金從20萬美元提高至150萬美元,且僅接受現金繳納。
根據證詞,受害人的研究獲得聯邦資助,正在申請專利的研究涉及「癌症、神經系統及遺傳疾病治療的新技術」,而王愛麗沒有理由翻查這名同學的桌子,兩人研究主題並不相同,不過王愛麗「據報在到美國之前曾在中國從事類似研究」。
戈梅爾斯基形容受害人是一名表現優異的越南學生,而王愛麗首次論文答辯未能通過,據稱嫉妒同學成功利用細菌將核糖核酸(RNA)送入人體細胞的研究成果。
戈梅爾斯基表示,受害人8月參加一場著名會議後不久便開始出現極度疲倦、失眠、手指麻木與刺痛情況加劇、腿部無力等症狀。據說受害人也注意到用放在桌上的小型咖啡機泡茶時,茶水味道異常,每次清洗咖啡機後異味就會消失。
戈梅爾斯基表示,他懷疑共用辦公室內有人對這名研究生下毒,因此請一名化學教授檢測水質,結果驗出丙烯醯胺。
丙烯醯胺最為人知的是高溫烹調澱粉類食物或燃燒菸草時產生的一種致癌副產物,高劑量下具有急性毒性。這種物質也用於涉及蛋白質或去氧核醣核酸(DNA)的微生物學研究。
戈梅爾斯基說,王愛麗自6月以來未進行實驗室工作而專心撰寫論文。
王愛麗在懷俄明州面臨加重傷害重罪指控,最高可處10年徒刑和1萬美元罰款。
🇨🇳 Aili Wang, a University of Wyoming microbiology graduate student from China, has been arrested on accusations she poisoned the tea of a colleague who had pending patents and with whom she didn’t get along, and then tried to flee the country after police questioned her. Wang was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on Oct 6 while attempting to return to China. With her were laptops, electronic storage devices and documents now in the possession of police, who allege Wang was seen on surveillance video rummaging through the desk of the victim who specialized in technology for disease treatment — research similar to work she’d done in China. Wang remains jailed without bail in Los Angeles. She bought acrylamide over eBay, and it was first detected when the victim’s wife and others tested water from the coffee maker he used to brew tea. The police investigation began after the victim “K.T.” — Kiet Tran, the man standing next to Wang in lower right pic — began experiencing symptoms and his wife and others isolated the chemical in the coffee maker water. The victim and campus police then set up surveillance cameras in the office space he shared with Wang at the university in Laramie. Wang was recorded on Sep 27 going through the victim’s desk. On Oct 1, she was recorded “taking photos and manipulating notebooks” on his desk, as well as rinsing out his mug with a liquid from her own mug. During an interview by campus police on Oct 5, Wang said she “had not used acrylamide in years.” A day later she was taken into custody in Los Angeles while in possession of “multiple laptops, multiple portable external digital storage devices, related accessories, physical records and written materials,” according to a request by Wyoming prosecutors to “significantly increase” her $200,000 bond upon extradition. Wang had no reason to go through the desk of the other student whose federally funded, patent-pending research involved new technology for cancer, neurological and genetic disease treatment. Wang “was reportedly working on similar research in China before coming to the US.” The victim as a highly successful student from Vietnam. Wang failed her first attempt to defend her dissertation and became envious of her colleague’s success in discovering how to deliver RNA to human cells using bacteria. The victim began experiencing extreme tiredness, inability to sleep and other unexplained symptoms such as finger tingling and numbness, and leg weakness soon after attending a prestigious conference in Aug. He also noticed a strange taste in the tea that he made with a small coffee maker on his desk. When he washed the coffee maker, the taste would go away. Suspecting someone in their shared office could be poisoning the graduate student, a chemistry professor tested the water and identified acrylamide — which is “not something you would find in that kind of quantity anywhere.” 63 milligrams of white powder that tested positive for acrylamide were isolated. Wang faces a felony aggravated assault and battery charge in Wyoming punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. It’s not clear when she could be extradited to the state, where Albany County Circuit Court Judge Robert Sanford granted prosecutors’ request and raised bond to $1.5 million cash-only. Wang had asked eBay to delete her account after she bought acrylamide there twice last summer. Best known as a carcinogenic byproduct of cooking starchy food and burning tobacco, acrylamide can be acutely toxic in high doses. It’s used in microbiology research involving proteins or DNA. The victim was working on a pretty promising cancer therapy method. Wang took photos of every page of a notebook the victim left on his desk. The victim continues to experience symptoms from the poisoning. Acrylamide is a neurotoxin that cannot be neutralized so it stays in neurons and basically kills them. So it’s unclear if he’ll fully recover or not. https://t.co/OZQxfyqaHu
— Byron Wan (@Byron_Wan) October 14, 2026
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