The zinc-finger gene-7 (ZNF7) was located 90 kb 3' of MYC on human chromosome 8 band q24 by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). This position lies between the MLV14 and BVR1 loci, 2 variant translocation breakpoints in Burkitt lymphomas. The structure of the ZNF7 gene was not altered by translocations in Burkitt-lymphoma cell lines as shown by its germline-restriction map configuration. The chromosomal region surrounding the ZNF7 gene was extensively methylated. The ZNF7 gene was not expressed in 19 BL cell lines. Expression was detected only in the BL41 and BL47 cell lines and in the SW756 cervical-carcinoma cell line. The RNA in each was of a different size. We postulate that the lack of ZNF7 expression in Burkitt lymphomas might contribute to the tumor phenotype.