Scoliosis is a common phenotype in mutant mouse models that disrupt genes involved with the development and homeostasis of cartilages and connective tissues, including Adgrg6/Gpr126 (Karner et al., 2015), Sox9 (Henry et al., 2012), Shp2 (Ptpn11) (Kim et al., 2013), Gdf5/6 (Settle et al., 2003) and Fgf3 (Gao et al., 2015). Here, PTPN11 is linked to scoliosis.