New research published in Nature Communications assessed the effectiveness of phage therapy in treating pneumonia. What researchers discovered about the mechanisms behind phage therapy could inform treatments in clinical settings to help patients facing similarly stubborn infections. 

How much does education actually sharpen the mind? A study published in the Journal of Human Capital(link is external and opens in a new window) may help settle this long-standing debate by comparing adult siblings in Indonesia. Led by Yuan Zhang, assistant professor of Sociomedical Sciences in the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, the research reveals education’s impact on adult cognition—particularly for people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and their colleagues at the University of California, San Diego, have found that fine-particulate air pollution, which includes pollution from vehicles and industry, was strongly associated with increased genomic changes in lung cancer tumors among people who have never smoked. By assembling the largest-ever whole-genome analysis of lung cancer in individuals who have never smoked, researchers were able to link air pollution exposure to increased cancer-driving and cancer-promoting genetic mutations. This could potentially lead to more prevention strategies for never-smokers.