NEW CONCORDIA — Academic institutions are scrambling to put additional distance between themselves and geneticist Dr. Cyrus Wren after authorities uncovered a research operation involving human experimentation at a corrections-linked annex bearing his name.

Wren had previously earned recognition for genetics research before controversy over his methods pushed his work outside mainstream medical institutions.

Apparently, he took that criticism constructively and built a seven-floor prison laboratory.

Material recovered from the annex points to research involving reanimation, accelerated tissue growth, animal-human hybridization and behavioral control. One ward contained executed prisoners fitted with electronic collars designed to place them in a deathlike state until activated.

“This is why an ethics board has more than one person on it,” said a New Concordia biology professor after reviewing descriptions of the facility.

Several local educators said the scandal will likely become a case study in research ethics, oversight and the scientific principle known as “maybe don’t.”

Authorities are reviewing Wren’s professional relationships and funding history.

The larger academic question remains unanswered: Who kept giving this man laboratory equipment?