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New research by the University of Liverpool's Chemistry Department represents an important breakthrough in the field of polymer science. In a paper published in the journal Nature Chemistry, and featuring on the front cover, Liverpool researchers use mechanochemistry to characterise how a polymer chain in solution responds to a sudden acceleration of the solvent flow around it.

New University of Liverpool research - published today in The Lancet Public Health  – shows that children who move into poverty are more likely to suffer from social, emotional and behavioural problems than children who remain out of poverty. The UK Government has recently questioned whether the relative measure of income poverty used in this research (a household income that is less than 60% of the national average) is a good indicator of children's life chances.

Scientists have identified a 'molecular barcode' in the blood of patients with Ebola virus disease that can predict whether they are likely to survive or die from the viral infection. A team at the University of Liverpool, in collaboration with Public Health England, Boston University and other international partners, used blood samples taken from infected and recovering patients during the 2013-2016 West Africa outbreak to identify gene products that act as strong predictors of patient outcome.

A new University of Liverpool study published in 'Neuropsychology!' shows that it may be possible to detect neurodegenerative disorders in artists before they are diagnosed. Psychologist Dr Alex Forsythe from the University's School of Psychology and her team, working with Dr Tamsin Williams of Tees, Esk, and Wear Valleys NHS Trust, Vale of York and Maynooth University, Ireland, examined 2092 paintings from the careers of seven famous artists who experienced both normal ageing and neurodegenerative disorders.

Scientists from the University of Liverpool as part of CERN's ALPHA collaboration have made the first spectroscopic measurement of an atom of antimatter - a longstanding goal in antimatter physics. Published , this finding represents a significant step towards the development of highly precise tests of whether matter behaves differently from antimatter.

Scientists at the University of Liverpool have shown that a change in weather patterns, brought on by the 'Godzilla' El Niño of 2015, fuelled the Zika outbreak in South America. The findings were revealed using a new epidemiological model that looked at how climate affects the spread of Zika virus by both of its major vectors, the yellow fever mosquito ( Aedes aegypti ) and the Asian tiger mosquito ( Aedes albopictus ).

New research from the University of Liverpool has identified the role of a specific protein in the human body that can help prevent the survival and spread of eye cancer, by initiating cancer 'cell-suicide'. The new findings may help revolutionise the approach to metastatic uveal melanoma (UM) – a cancer that arises from the pigment cells (melanocytes) in the eye, and for which there is currently no effective treatment.

Patients with a chronic type of leukaemia could safely reduce the side effects of life-long treatment by cutting their dose in half, according to the results of a University of Liverpool led study presented at an international conference in America this week. Drugs known as tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) have drastically improved the prognosis for patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), essentially turning what was a deadly cancer into a chronic disease that can be managed with a daily pill.

A pioneering University of Liverpool research team have published a study that identifies the mechanism in the human body that causes resistance of pancreatic cancer cells to chemotherapy. Pancreatic cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death and current therapies are not very effective. Thus, a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms that impair the response of cancer patients to chemotherapy, the standard treatment of care for this disease, is essential to design more effective treatments for this lethal disease.

Microbiologists have identified how MRSA may be more effectively treated by modern-day antibiotics, if old-fashioned penicillin is also used. The team from the University of Liverpool and the National University of Ireland Galway have shown that, although penicillin does not kill the bacteria, it does weaken their virulence, making it easier for our immune system and other antibiotics to eradicate the infection.

New University of Liverpool research has found that co-witnesses to a crime can contaminate each other's memory of who committed it, but that the likelihood of this contamination occurring depends upon their confidence. The research, conducted by Dr Craig Thorley from the University's Institute of Psychology, Health and Society , was inspired by real-life incidents where co-witnesses have discussed a crime, one has made a mistake during these discussions, and the others have then included this mistake in their subsequent police statements.

A new collaborative study between the University of Liverpool and the World Health Organisation has found that behavioural intervention can reduce anxiety and depression in adults impaired by psychological distress in a conflict-affected region. More than 125 million people today are directly affected by armed conflict, the highest number since World War II.

New research from the University of Liverpool highlights problems impacting on the cognitive development of children in sub-Saharan Africa. Cognitive function includes a wide range of processes including perception, memory, attention and behavioural control, with some of these processes not being fully developed until early adulthood.

Incentives intended to stimulate the development of more treatments for rare diseases are being exploited to boost the profits of pharmaceutical companies, new research from the University of Liverpool shows. Researchers found that companies which market drugs for rare diseases (known as orphan drugs) are five times more profitable and have up to 15% higher market value than other drug companies.

Researchers at the University of Liverpool have developed a new international guideline to help standardise how results from clinical trial studies are reported. Use of the COS-STAR guideline, which is published in PLOS Medicine , could increase the efficiency and value of clinical research across the globe.

In the first study of its kind researchers from the University of Liverpool's Institute of Translational Medicine have examined the possible reasons for the rapid increase in incidence of particular head and neck cancers in the UK. A rising incidence of Oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC), a type Head and Neck cancer arising in the tonsils, base of tongue and soft palate, has occurred throughout the developed world, and has frequently been attributed to an increasing impact of Human Papillomavirus (HPV).

New research has identified genetic differences that help to explain why some babies are born bigger or smaller than others and how they provide an important link between an individual's early growth and their chances of developing later life disease. The large-scale study and involved more than 160 international researchers from 17 countries who are members of the Early Growth Genetics (EGG) Consortium.

People are being warned to take the current trend for 'pink' chicken liver recipes with a pinch of salt. Research from Manchester, Bangor and Liverpool universities found that a current trend to serve 'rare' chicken livers is potentially exposing the public to the risk of Campylobacter food poisoning.

The first global-scale genetic study of Salmonella Enteritidis bacteria, which is a major cause of blood poisoning and death in Africa and food poisoning in the Western world, has discovered that there are in fact three separate types. Scientists at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and University of Liverpool found two novel African types, which looked the same, but were genetically different from the Western type.

Scientists at the University of Liverpool are using the health records of dogs to monitor the status of a potentially fatal tick-borne disease that appears to have been imported into the UK. Canine babesiosis is transmitted to dogs by infected ticks, with symptoms including a lack of appetite, fever and jaundice.