Human lens gamma-crystallin sequences are located in the p12-qter region of chromosome 2.

The human gamma-crystallin genes constitute a multigene family whose members are only expressed in the eye lens. The chromosomal location of these sequences has been determined by screening a panel of human/rodent hybrid cell lines containing overlapping subsets of human chromosomes for the presence of human gamma-crystallin sequences. By correlating these genomic hybridization data with the chromosomal constitution of the somatic cell hybrids, all human gamma-crystallin sequences could be assigned to chromosome 2. The use of human/hamster cell hybrids derived from human Burkitt lymphoma cells carrying a reciprocal translocation between human chromosomes 2 and 8, allowed a further localization of the sequences to the region 2p12-qter.