<Li> <P> Polar body bulging from an animal pole of a starfish oocyte </P> </Li> <P> Polar body bulging from an animal pole of a starfish oocyte </P> <P> Polar bodies were first identified and characterized in the early 20th century, primarily by O. Hertwig, T. Boveri, and E.L. Mark . They were described as non-functioning egg cells which disintegrated because the spermatozoon, with rare exceptions, could not fertilize them and instead chemically triggered their dissolution . </P> <P> Polar bodies serve to eliminate one half of the diploid chromosome set produced by meiotic division in the egg, leaving behind a haploid cell . To produce the polar bodies, the cell must divide asymmetrically, which is fueled by furrowing (formation of a trench) near a particular point on the cell membrane . The presence of chromosomes induces the formation of an actomyosin cortical cap, a myosin II ring structure and a set of spindle fibers, the rotation of which promotes invagination at the edge of the cell membrane and splits the polar body away from the oocyte . </P>

What is the purpose of polar body formation