vasa gene

vasa is an RNA binding protein with an RNA-dependent helicase. The vasa gene, is essential for germ cell development and was first identified in Drosophila melanogaster. It is homologous to a DEAD (Asp-Glu-Ala-Asp)-family protein in the mouse.

Vasa has conserved biological function as an essential component of the piRNA pathway, responsible for processing of transposable element transcripts to be silenced .