Genetic markers on chromosome 7

SUMMARY Chromosome 7 is frequently associated with chromosome aberrations, rearrange-ments, and deletions. It also contains many important genes, gene families, and disease loci. This brief review attempts to summarise these and other interesting aspects of chromosome 7. With the rapid accumulation of cloned genes and polymorphic DNA fragments, this chromosome has become an excellent substrate for molecular genetic studies. Chromosome 7 has been a subject of interest in medical genetics because of its frequent association with chromosome aberrations, rearrangements, and deletions, and because of the localisation of several important genes, gene families, and disease loci on this chromosome. It accounts for approximately 5% of the human genomel and it is estimated to be 136 centimorgans (cM) in length2 and to contain 150 million basepairs of DNA. The short (p) and long (q) arm size ratio is approximately 1 to 1-5 (figure)