Chromosome 7 spans about 160 million[4] base pairs (the building material of DNA) and represents between 5 and 5.5 percent of the total DNA in cells.

Because researchers use different approaches to genome annotation their predictions of the number of genes on each chromosome varies (for technical details, see gene prediction).

So CCDS's gene number prediction represents a lower bound on the total number of human protein-coding genes.

The following diseases are some of those related to genes on chromosome 7: The following conditions are caused by changes in the structure or number of copies of chromosome 7: While a few of the specific genes related to Williams syndrome have been identified, the relationship between most of the genes in the deleted region and the signs and symptoms of Williams syndrome is unknown.

In the novel Performance Anomalies, researchers at Stanford University identify mutations in the long (q) arm of chromosome 7 as underlying the accelerated nervous system of the spy protagonist Cono,[33] who receives the moniker Cono 7Q