The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has spent the past decade compiling information on hundreds of U.S.-based scientists it believes tried to illegally help their country of origin, most often China. But it’s never been clear what triggered NIH’s aggressive pursuit of these scientists, many of whom eventually lost their jobs or even went to jail, and why it was so much more extensive than efforts at other federal agencies. Mystery solved. Science has learned that Tam Dao, an academic psychologist–turned–FBI special agent for counterintelligence, laid the groundwork for NIH’s campaign. Dao remains an important player in the debate over research security. Now head of campus safety and research security at Rice University, he will be tackling a question that arguably should have been asked before NIH plunged ahead: How often do foreign governments try to steal research at U.S. universities? Read more: scim.ag/4staPfR