Yin Qingqiang, 38, a Cornell University researcher from China, was convicted of stealing biological materials used in a university research project and trying to smuggle them to his home country. A federal jury on December 13 found him guilty of theft of property worth more than $5,000 and making a false statement to an FBI agent. Yin, a former postdoctoral research associate at Cornell, was arrested July 28 at Syracuse Hancock International Airport after security officers found more than 250 vials, test tubes and petri dishes hidden in his luggage as he and his family tried to board a flight to Shanghai. Prosecutors contended he stole bacteria and yeast cultures for making an enzyme known as phytase, a livestock feed supplement that scientists think will improve livestock nutrition and reduce phosphorous excretion in animal waste. His goal, they said, was to secure a research job in China. Yin has said the materials belonged to him and that Cornell officials never told him he couldn't take them when he left the university. He wasn't rehired as a research assistant because of poor job performance, according to the university. He faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a $500,000 fine at sentencing April 15. (Guy M. Wang)