A group of researchers analyzed a marine sponge called Halichondrin okadai  because they were curious why it inhibited the replication of organisms around it.

They found that a mesylate eribulin substance had been applied to patients with breast cancer patients in the stage of metastasis, when the disease spreads to other parts of the body, and that it inhibited tumor growth.

Researchers are reporting that pancreatic cancer rates are highest in countries with the least amount of sunlight, due to a combination of heavy cloud cover and high latitude. 

Researchers have developed and used a new technique to connect the dots in the genomic puzzle. Just as dots have to be connected to visualize a full picture, the researchers connected regulatory elements called promoters and enhancers and showed their physical interactions over long distances within the mouse and human genomes.

The ability to map promoter-enhancer interactions in the human genome has huge potential in understanding the genetic basis of disease.

In a study of how people interacted with avatars in World of Warcraft, women received less help from fellow players than men when they operated an unattractive avatar - even less than when they used a male avatar, according to a paper in the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media.

This matches beliefs about how appearance stereotypes affect men and women in the real world. Some women believe they are more likely to suffer negative consequences based on their appearance than men are. 

A new soybean with significantly reduced levels of three key proteins responsible for both its allergenic and anti-nutritional effects has been created. Soybean is a major ingredient in many infant formulas, processed foods and livestock feed used for agriculture.

Perhaps Lance Armstrong needs to get his Tour de France victories back - a new study shows that winning all of those may not have been because of performance-enhancing drugs, it may have been spite of them, which would make his successes all that more amazing.