Research report 2020 - Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine
The sleeping embryo
Authors
Bedzhov, Ivan
Departments
Forschungsgruppe "Embryonic Self-Organization"
Summary
Early stages of mammalian embryos are able to enter a naturally occurring dormant state (diapause) to slow their development during unfavorable environmental conditions. Surprisingly, we found that these seemingly “sleeping” embryos exhibit dynamic cell-cell communication and shape-shifting tissue architecture during stasis, which is required to maintain their long-term developmental potential.