In an effort to avoid a system of government-imposed secrecy, a National Academy of Sciences (NAS) panel recently recommended biologists engage in a system of self-censorship. The panel advocated a process of review, at the university and federal levels, for research that could help terrorists make biological weapons. While the proposal represents a major and troubling concession by the scientific community to security concerns, the Bush administration may still enforce its own restrictions. John H. Marburger, science adviser to President Bush, suggested that the panel’s recommendations might not be enough. The NAS panel proposed seven areas of biology that should be reviewed by both local and federal committees. The local committees could prevent experiments at their facilities, and the federal committee could cut off federal funding of an experiment. The panel’s recommendation would also allow the government to make any research secret and therefore prevent publication. In theory, the government would not want to overuse this power in areas such as immunology and virology because of the delays it would cause in research to prevent or cure various illnesses. However, the panel’s report does not contain any safeguards against the possible overuse of government secrecy. If the Bush administration supports the panel’s proposal, it is unclear whether it would require Congressional action and oversight or if it could be established by executive order.