H5N1 bird flu virusFor the first time, a U.S. science advisory panel has recommended that researchers not publish the results of their work due to biosafety and biosecurity concerns. The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB), overseen by the National Institutes of Health, has asked two journals not to publish details of how the bird flu virus (H5H1) was modified to become more transmissible from person to person. The fear is that the experimental details could be used by terrorists to create deadly viruses for use against innocents.

The bird flu virus rarely infects people, with only 600 cases since 1997. However, about half of those who contracted the virus died.

Researchers are concerned that the virus could mutate naturally to become more easily spread from person to person, which could touch off a deadly pandemic. The two research projects in question -- one at Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands and another at the University of Wisconsin - Madison -- were designed to understand exactly what genetic mutations the virus might naturally undergo to make it more transmissible. Pinpointing those specific genetic changes would allow researchers and clinicians to develop better detection of and treatments for the naturally evolving virus.

Speaking to the New York Times, David R. Franz, a biologist who formerly headed a Army defensive biological laboratory, referred to the NSABB recommendation as a "wake-up call." He added, "We need to make sure that our best and most responsible scientists have the information they need to prepare us for whatever we might face."

Read more here:

New York Times: Seeing Terror Risk, U.S. Asks Journals to Cut Flu Study Facts

and on 3/7/2012: Amateur Biologists are New Fear in Creating Mutant Virus

CBS: Government wants bird flu research kept under wraps, away from terrorists

Guardian: When it comes to bird flu, nature is the greatest bioterrorist (op-ed)