Two Chinese researchers were charged with smuggling a biological pathogen that they planned to study at a University of Michigan lab, a complaint filed Tuesday says.

Yunqing Jian and Zunyong Liu allegedly brought into the US a fungus which damages a variety of crops and is toxic to humans and animals.

U.S. federal prosecutors have accused two Chinese nationals of smuggling a dangerous biological pathogen that had the potential to be used as an agricultural terrorism weapon into the United States for research.