in inducing the escape of the embryo from obligate diapause. Embryonic stem cells Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have the potential to allow for further understanding of the mechanisms controlling embryonic diapause. This is because the ESCs and diapausing blastocysts having very similar transcriptome profiles. ESCs are derived from the undifferentiated inner mass cells of blastocysts of an embryo - with the capability of continual proliferation in vitro. ESCs are mostly derived from mouse models, at the point where the ESCs are at optimal efficiency and are able to enter diapause. Both diapausing blastocysts and ESCs have transcriptome profile similarities, including downregulation of metabolism, biosynthesis and gene expression pathways. These similarities allow for the potential to use ESCs as a cellular model to identify the molecular factors which regulate embryonic diapause. References Developmental biology he:דיאפאוזה pl:Ciąża przedłużona fi:Diapaussi