June 18, 2004

Government Investigates Buffalo Professor Who Uses Bacteria in His Artwork

By ROBIN WILSON

Subpoenas cite security concerns, while fellow artists say federal officials are going too far

Beatriz da Costa and Steve Barnes were leaving a Holiday Inn outside of Boston last month on their way to a museum when an FBI agent called out their names. As they turned around, the agent served them both with subpoenas to appear this week before a federal grand jury.

Until that moment, Ms. da Costa, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the

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