LEAH WILLINGHAM and KATHY McCORMACK.

A Russian-born scientist and Harvard University researcher charged with smuggling frog embryos into the United States has been released on bail. Thirty-year-old Kseniia Petrova has been in federal custody since February. Petrova hugged and laughed with supporters afterward Thursday. She said she wanted to “thank everybody.” She was returning from a vacation in France, where she had obtained a package of superfine sections of frog embryos for research purposes. She was later questioned about the samples while passing through a U.S. Customs and Border Protection checkpoint at Boston Logan International Airport. Petrova has said she didn’t realize the items needed to be declared and was not trying to sneak anything into the country.