The keratin family includes the epithelial (soft) keratins and the hair (hard) keratins, which can be divided into two subfamilies--the acidic type Ⅰ and the basic or neutral type Ⅱ. A cDNA is isolated and sequenced from a cDNA library constructed with poly (A)+ RNA derived from the goat skin. Because the gene sequence of the known type Ⅰ hair keratins 8C1 is in accordance with that of the hHa1, this keratin can be identified as the goat hair keratin gHal cDNA (GenBank Accession No. AY510110.1). The 413 amino acid sequence derived is compared with the Sheep 8C1 type Ⅰ mRNA and they exhibit the highest homology (97.8%). In in situ hybrid-ization, it has revealed a strong expression in the cortex of both primary and secondary hair follicles.