Polar bodies--more a lack of understanding than a lack of respect.
Polar bodies are as diverse as the organisms that produce them. Although in many animals these cells often die following meiotic maturation of the oocyte, in other organisms they are an essential and diverse part of embryonic development. Here we highlight some of this diversity and summarize the evolutionary basis for their utility.
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA.
Samuel
S
Schmerler
Gary M
GM
Wessel
D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008540:Meiosis / Q000502:physiology*; D009865:Oocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D015044:Zona Pellucida / Q000378:metabolism*
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