The Use of the Polymerase Chain Reaction in the Mapping of Human Genes Using Somatic Cell Hybrids

The majority of human-rodent somatic cell hybrids lose human chromosomes in a more or less random manner. It is possible to obtain a panel of hybrids in which each contains a unique subset of human chromosomes. In principle, human genes can be mapped in such hybrids by looking for correlation between the presence of a particular protein product or DNA sequence and a particular human chromosome. Hybrids containing well defined fragments of human chromosomes can then be used for regional localization. The availability of DNA from well characterized hybrids allows the rapid assignment of a newly cloned human sequence without the expertise and expensive equipment currently required for analysis of direct in situ hybridization to metaphase spreads or flow sorting of human chromosomes.