LI NING, A PROFESSOR AT CHINA AGRICULTURAL University and an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering, has been arrested for embezzling national scientific research funds. Six other professors from four universities have also been detained for the same offense.

It is saddening that the 52-year-old agricultural professor, who has made outstanding achievements in cloning technology and other fields, should have sunk so low, but we also share the view with many others that something needs to be done to straighten up the way the country's scientific research funds are used.

The seven professors were found to have embezzled the money the State allocated for their research when their accounts were audited by the National Audit Office. They are all leading researchers engaged in key scientific research projects supported by large sums of money from the State coffers.