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Publisher Summary Transposable P elements are a family of mobile genetic elements found in Drosophila. They are responsible for the syndrome of genetic traits known as hybrid dysgenesis. This chapter discusses molecular biology of Drosophila P- element transposition. P elements are a family of transposable elements found in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster . They are the causative agents of a syndrome of correlated genetic traits, known as hybrid dysgenesis, that occurs in the progeny of a cross between males carrying P elements (P-strains) and females that lack them (M-strains). It is known that P-element transposition is controlled genetically and only occurs when a P-strain male is mated to an M-strain female but not in the reciprocal M-male × P-female cross and in a P × P cross. P-element transposition also exhibits tissue specificity, occurring only in the germ line. P elements have been extensively analyzed at the molecular level and are known to encode two proteins: an 87-kDa protein that appears to be the transposase required for the high rates of P-element transposition as well as for the precise and imprecise excision of P elements, and a second, smaller protein of 66-kDa postulated to be a negative regulator of transposition.