Drosophila transposable element that has been used as a tool for insertional mutagenesis and for germ-line transformation.

A P element is a transposon that is present in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and is used widely for mutagenesis and the creation of genetically modified flies used for genetic research. The P element causes a phenotype known as hybrid dysgenesis. They seem to have first appeared in the species only in the middle of the twentieth century.