We have localized the human CD59 gene encoding a membrane protein that inhibits cell lysis by the membrane-attack complex of the homologous complement system. Using chromosomal in situ suppression hybridization and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, we mapped this gene to chromosome 11p13, distal to the breakpoint of acute T-cell leukemia and proximal to the locus of the Wilms' tumor gene on a 30-kb SacII fragment.