The heat shock proteins (HSPs) comprise a group of highly conserved, abundantly expressed proteins with diverse functions, including the assembly and sequestering of multi-protein complexes, the transportation of nascent polypeptide chains across cellular membranes and the regulation of protein folding. HSPA7 (heat shock 70kDa protein 7), also known as HSP70B, is a 367 amino acid protein belonging to the heat shock protein 70 family, and like other HSP proteins, mediates protein folding within the cytosol, as well as within other organelles throughout the cell. The gene encoding HSPA7 maps to human chromosome 1, which spans 260 million base pairs, contains over 3,000 genes and comprises nearly 8% of the human genome. Chromosome 1 houses a large number of disease-associated genes, including those that are involved in familial adenomatous polyposis, Stickler syndrome, Parkinson’s disease, Gaucher disease, schizophrenia and Usher syndrome. Aberrations in chromosome 1 are found in a variety of cancers, including head and neck cancer, malignant melanoma and multiple myeloma.