Understanding paused development in embryos could unlock new cancer treatments [Video]

Embryonic diapause is a fascinating phenomenon that happens at an early stage of pregnancy when a fertilized egg is simply a ball of rapidly dividing cells. Mammalian embryos can sense when food is scarce and pause their development until a later time.

Life at all levels needs food or energy to grow and survive. That includes cells as well. At the blastocyst stage, however, facing an absence of nutrients, a fertilized egg can simply turn off and not die. Embryonic diapause might not be new knowledge, but how and why it happens remained unclear until now.

“Seasonal starvation is one of the universal environmental stresses in nature,” Professor Qiang Sun, research leader explains. “However, the regulatory process of diapause in early-stage embryos is not …