Recent studies have reported that fibroblasts or differentiated pluripotent cells can be reprogrammed with transcription factors (TFs) into cells with hematopoietic potential. A study published in Cell now suggests that committed blood precursors may provide a source for blood stem cell transplantation after reprogramming (Riddell et al, 2014). The authors report that a combination of eight TFs reprogram murine committed blood progenitors into long-term engrafting and serially transplantable hematopoietic stem cells with a molecular signature similar to their endogenous counterparts.