Aside from this one concrete example of potential translation, iN cell reprogramming research paved the way for even more widespread applications. The discovery of iN cells triggered efforts to generate various kinds of cell types from fibroblasts and other non-related lineages. With respect to cell types of the brain alone, the field has made substantial progress. Various methods have been developed to generate neural stem/progenitor cells from murine fibroblasts [60–64]. More recently, induced oligodendroglial progenitor cells with the capacity to differentiate into myelinating oligodendrocytes were generated by two independent groups [65, 66]. Unlike postmitotic iN cells, these neural progenitor cell populations are particularly attractive for cell transplantation-based therapies.
