According to New Scientist, the 1918 pandemic flu, which killed upwards of 50 million people, is two small mutations away from a virus that kills but does not spread. The mutations involve two amino acids which change the way that the virus binds to cells.

This work may be applicable to bird flu as the reason that bird flu is currently not easily transmitted between humans is that the kinds of cells it likes to bind to are deep in the lungs, as opposed to in the throat and nose. The exact mutations which the 1918 virus went through aren’t applicable to bird flu, but they give scientists an idea of what to look for.

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