The origins of the Navigator gene are shrouded in mystery and rumour,{{Fn|2f}}{{Fn|5}} even among Navigators themselves,{{Fn|6}} but firmly placed within the [[Dark Age of Technology]];{{Fn|2f}}{{Fn|5}} various sources date their introduction to [[M10]],{{Fn|7}} [[M15]],{{Fn|5}} [[M19]],{{Fn|8b}} or [[M22]],{{Fn|9}}{{Fn|21b}} in any case most cases predating the re-emergence of [[psyker]]s in Mankind.{{Fn|5}}{{Fn|8b}}{{Fn|Note 1}} It is unknown whether they evolved on their own, or were manufactured by genetic engineering;{{Fn|2f}}{{Fn|10c}} even if the consensus pointed to the latter,{{Fn|7}}{{Fn|11}} either would appear to be a response to Mankind’s need to perfect [[Warp travel]].{{Fn|2f}} Since their appearance they began to extend their influence due to their crucial service within human society, forming noble houses that with waxing and waning times ultimately grew in wealth,{{Fn|7}} escaping the grasp of industrial and trading cartels,{{Fn|10d}} eventually establishing the Navis Nobilite well before the advent of the Imperium.{{Fn|12a}} It is of note that in M41 many held a belief that Navigator gene originated from the time just before [[the Great Crusade]] which took place between late [[M30]] and early [[M31]], manufactured by [[the Emperor]] himself.{{Fn|2f}} Some Ordos amongst the [[Inquisition|Holy Inquisition]] suspect that the ancient stasis vaults beneath the mansions of the [[Navigator's Quarter]] on [[Terra|Holy Terra]] contain records of the true origin of the Navigator gene.{{Fn|3e}} The aforementioned gene is easily lost through its recessive trait, and can only be saved for future generations through intermarriage, lost when bred with ordinary humans.{{Fn|7}}{{Fn|10c}}