ZSWIM7 is a 140 amino acid nuclear protein that contains a SWIM-type zinc finger and belongs to the SWS1 family. ZSWIM7 interacts with Rad51D, and plays a role in the early stages of the homologous recombination repair (HRR) pathway that occurs during double-stranded DNA breaks. The gene encoding ZSWIM7 maps to human chromosome 17, which comprises over 2.5% of the human genome and encodes over 1,200 genes. Two key tumor suppressor genes are associated with chromosome 17, namely, p53 and BRCA1. Malfunction or loss of p53 expression is associated with malignant cell growth and Li-Fraumeni syndrome. Like p53, BRCA1 is directly involved in DNA repair, though specifically it is recognized as a genetic determinant of early onset breast cancer and predisposition to cancers of the ovary, colon, prostate gland and fallopian tubes.