"Before you read this paper"

Expression of genes is controlled by not only transcriptional regulation but also post-transcriptional, translational, and post-translational regulation. Germ cells are well known to regulate a lot of genes translationally. Then, what kind of molecular machinery do germ cells execute for translational regulation? Vasa is a conserved germ cell-specific gene among animals and required at several steps of oogenesis and primordial germ cell specification in Drosophila. In this lecture, we will see specific regulation of vasa in Drosophila germline stem cells, and discuss the meaning of translational regulation in germ cells.