Pluripotency takes off without Blimp1.

In this issue of Cell Stem Cell, Bao et al. demonstrate that Blimp1, which is required for primordial germ cell (PGC) specification, is dispensable for the derivation of embryonic stem cells (ESCs), epiblast stem cells (EpiSCs), and reprogramming. These findings argue that the acquisition of pluripotency does not require a Blimp1-dependent PGC intermediate state.