Former MIT researcher inspired by ‘Breaking Bad’ to buy poison is spared prison term

A biomedical engineer told a judge Thursday that he was inspired by “Breaking Bad” when he bought castor beans and lily of the valley plants, which produce deadly toxins and were used by a character on the popular television show to poison people.

Ishtiaq Ali Saaem, 38, a former research director at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said during his sentencing hearing in federal court in Boston that he was “guided by innocent curiosity” to learn more about ricin, a lethal agent that can be extracted from the beans.