GENE REFERENCE / HGNC:20626

CHD7

chromodomain helicase DNA binding protein 7

protein-coding gene8q12.2Gene information

What does this gene do?

The CHD7 gene provides instructions for making a protein called chromodomain helicase DNA binding protein 7. This protein is found in many parts of the body before birth, including the eye, the inner ear, and the brain. In the brain, the CHD7 protein is active in several areas, including a bundle of nerve cells (neurons) called the olfactory bulb that is critical for the perception of odors.

The CHD7 protein belongs to a family of proteins that are thought to play a role in the organization of chromatin. Chromatin is the complex of DNA and protein that packages DNA into chromosomes. The CHD7 protein regulates the activity (expression) of several other genes through a process known as chromatin remodeling. The structure of chromatin can be changed (remodeled) to alter how tightly DNA is packaged. When DNA is tightly packed, gene expression is lower than when DNA is loosely packed. Researchers are working to determine which genes the CHD7 protein regulates.

Source: MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine. Source publication: 2025-09-26. Source review: 2017-02.

ClinGen reviews

ClinGen reviews the evidence linking a particular gene to a condition. Each rating below describes the strength of that link. It does not classify a variant in your DNA file.

Condition	Inheritance	Evidence
CHARGE syndromeMONDO:0008965 · Evaluated 2026-06-03	Autosomal dominant	DefinitiveHearing Loss Gene Curation Expert Panel

ClinVar records

These numbers show what has been submitted to ClinVar. They cannot tell you how likely you are to have a condition.

Submitted alleles: 4,697
Submissions for variants in or overlapping this gene: 8,371
Submissions explicitly reporting this gene: 8,199
Alleles reported pathogenic / likely pathogenic: 932
VariationIDs with uncertain significance: 1,677
VariationIDs with conflicting classifications: 502

The rows count different things: alleles, submissions or VariationIDs. Their categories can overlap, so do not add them together. Pathogenic/likely pathogenic counts exclude structural variants that merely overlap a gene. A dash in the source means “not reported,” not zero.

NCBI produces the gene-summary file each week using counts recorded at the start of the month. The numbers may differ from those on the live ClinVar website. Read the field definitions ↗

View this gene in ClinVar ↗

YOUR DNA FILE

Can your DNA file tell you about CHD7?

From a DNA test kit (such as 23andMe, AncestryDNA or MyHeritage). These kits check a fixed list of about 600,000 to 700,000 positions across your whole genome. ClinVar lists 932 alleles in CHD7 reported as pathogenic or likely pathogenic. A kit checks only some of these positions, and often none of them.

From whole genome sequencing (a VCF file). Sequencing reads most of your genome. Your file lists the places where your DNA differs from the reference genome. Some regions are hard to sequence, including parts of some genes that have near-identical copies elsewhere, and a VCF file does not record which positions were read well.

If a variant is not in your file, that does not mean you don’t have it.

What BioDecode checks

BioDecode compares every variant in your file with ClinVar, on your own computer. For each match, it shows the ClinVar classification, the review status and the condition it was reported for. Your file is not uploaded.

A ClinVar classification applies to one particular variant and the condition it was reported for. It does not tell you about other variants in CHD7.

BioDecode cannot fill gaps in your test, diagnose a condition or replace clinical testing.

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