[5][6] This gene encodes a neuron-specific RNA-binding protein, a member of the Nova family of paraneoplastic disease antigens, that is recognized and inhibited by paraneoplastic antibodies.

Alternatively spliced transcripts encoding distinct isoforms have been described.

[6] Both Neanderthals and Denisovans had one version and nearly all modern humans had another suggesting positive selection.

Insertion of Neanderthal gene variant of the neuro-oncological ventral antigen 1 (NOVA1) gene into human cortical organoids might promote slower development and higher surface complexity in the brain models,[7] but this may be an artefact of a CRISPR side effect,[8][9] as it could not be replicated in a subsequent study.

This article on a gene on human chromosome 14 is a stub.