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An unplanned pregnancy? Pause
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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A team of specialists from California are confident that the development of the fetus inside the mother's womb can be suspended without negative consequences for either the woman or the future child.
So far, scientists have managed to stop the process of embryo development inside the mother's body for a month, after which the fetus continues to develop normally. According to experts, it is possible to stop pregnancy for a while and for a much longer period, but this will require a number of additional studies, in addition, this process requires significant resources from the mother's body.
This discovery was made at the University of California during a study of the processes that occur in rodents during pregnancy. During the work, scientists stopped the development of the embryo inside the females and started it again. After the end of the pregnancy and birth, the females felt good, and the cubs were completely healthy.
As already noted, it is possible to stop pregnancy only for a certain period of time – a maximum of 30 days, but the embryo must be at an early stage of its development, otherwise negative consequences are possible.
In their report, the scientists also noted an interesting fact that the body is capable of independently suspending the process of embryo development - this happens, so to speak, in emergency situations, when, for example, the mother is starving or the life of the embryo is threatened by some external factors. The main role in this is played by the mTOR protein and the higher the concentration of inhibitors of this protein, the longer the "pause" during pregnancy.
American experts are confident that the discovery will be useful not only in studying the development of embryos, but will also help develop a cure for cancer and fight aging. Experts note that stem or cancer cells can also be put into hibernation, and if scientists manage to find mechanisms to control this process, this will be a real breakthrough in the treatment of oncological diseases and the fight against aging.
According to scientists, the processes of embryonic development can be stopped for a longer period, but in this case the mother’s body will work to the point of exhaustion, which will naturally immediately affect the woman’s health.
Experts noted that this discovery, as well as a number of other important discoveries, was made completely by accident. According to the head of the research project, such capabilities of the mammalian organism were a real surprise for scientists. The researchers planned to study the effect of the mTOR protein on the growth of embryonic cells, but as a result, the suppression of the protein led to the embryo falling into "hibernation".
The experts did not stop there and continued their work with stem cells that were obtained from an embryo at an early stage of development. As a result, these cells also plunged into a state of suspended animation after manipulation of the mTOR protein.
Presumably, the "pause" during pregnancy reduces the activity of most genes, and only those that are capable of suppressing gene activity themselves remain active. The experts once again emphasized that they were not directly tasked with stopping the development of the embryo for a while or finding an effective method for treating cancer or rejuvenation.