Detection of gene amplification is a process that is recognised as a means of identifying oncogenes. This presentation discusses a study in which the gene copy number of a putative oncogene (ZNF217) was assessed in 80 colon carcinomas by multiplex quantitative real-time PCR. The study found that ZNF217 amplification is a frequent event in colon cancer and that the extent of its amplification can vary greatly between tumours