Davies et al (2002) recently reported that B-Raf mutations play a pivotal role in the oncogenesis of melanoma and colorectal carcinoma. The majority of analysed samples exhibited one specific B-Raf alteration that caused the exchange of valine to glutamate, a negatively charged amino acid, at position 599 (V599E) in the kinase domain of the protein. Here, BRAF is linked to colorectal carcinoma.