....shows for the first time that occasional exposure to the air  pollutant ozone (the main substance in smog) can change how the  lungs of young rhesus monkeys develop, and can lead to a disease  similar to childhood asthma in humans.

"We have the first real monkey model of human asthma here," says Dallas Hyde, co-investigator and interim director of the CRPRC. "What we are seeing is quite disturbing, as we would not have assumed these levels (of ozone) would change lung development".

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A thinning ozone layer could inflict lasting genetic damage on some plant   species, Swiss and German researchers say. The scientists exposed laboratory plants to high levels of ultraviolet-B  light, the shortwave radiation that can trigger tumours in humans who  sunbathe too long. in a small but significant number of the plants, the research team also  found genetic mutations had occurred in reproductive cells, meaning that  the changes were handed on to the plants' descendants. UV-B, which has wavelengths between 280 and 320 nanometres, has long been  recognised as a hazard to human health. It will knock electrons off the DNA  molecules in cells, setting off a variety of changes that can lead to cancer. Ozone, the three-atomed oxygen molecule, is very good at absorbing UV-B.  The layer of the gas that sits about 20 to 30 km above the Earth's surface  ensures most UV-B does not reach the ground. But the reported thinning of the ozone layer, blamed on the release of some  man-made gases used as propellants and refrigerants, means animals and  plants could experience much higher levels of UV-B exposure in the future.