Vitamin-K epoxide reductase is encoded by the VKORC1 gene in mammals and other vertebrates, which also have a paralog, VKORC1L1. Single homologs are present in basal deuterostome and insect genomes, including Drosophila, and three trypanosomatid protists. VKOR is therefore an ancient gene/protein that can be studied in the Drosophila model system.