TP53 mutations are often required for animal models to form tumors, as demonstrated with the BRAFV600E-driven melanoma and PAX3-FOXO1 fusion-driven rhabdomyosarcoma zebrafish models.1,2 To these ends, the tp53M214K zebrafish mutant developed by Berghmans et al.3 (also referred to as tp53zdf1) is widely used when building vertebrate disease models that require a TP53-mutated background. The gene discussed is TP53; the disease is melanoma.