The close packed structures emerge as model systems that approximate the network properties of self-organized molecular structures: They yield the local statistical averages and distributions similar to that of the self-assembled systems. Using these model networks as the basis, one may generate novel networks by introducing a few random links whereby the local properties are preserved while the desired global properties are approximated. The ultimate goal is to use both statistical and spectral characterization to design networks with desired properties and to determine the principles underlying organization of complex networks. The developmentally committed identity of somatic cells can be reverted to a pluripotent state through different reprogramming approaches. Among these methodologies, pluripotency is achieved by somatic cell nuclear transfer into enucleated unfertilized oocytes, cell fusion of differentiated cells with embryonic stem cells or treatment of differentiated cells with extracts derived from pluripotent cells. More recently, it has been reported that the induction of pluripotency in somatic cells can be achieved by the expression of defined transcription factors, including either the combination of Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and cMyc, although the latter was found to be dispensable, or Oct4, Sox2, Nanog and Lin28. Induced pluripotent stem cells are epigenetically and functionally similar to ES cells, although BEZ235 studies comparing ES and iPS cells continue to more precisely examine the equivalence of these cell types. While the molecular mechanisms underlying the process of reprogramming remain obscure, recent reports indicate that classical hallmarks of malignancy such as inactivation of the p53 pathway or silencing of the ink4/arf locus leading to immortalization are shared between somatic cell reprogramming and cell transformation. In the last few years, rapid progress has been made towards improving the efficiency of iPS cell generation, development of integration-free strategies or substitution of some reprogramming factors with other proteins or chemical compounds. Though initial reports relied on the use of retroviral or lentiviral delivery systems to introduce the reprogramming transcription factors, induction of pluripotency can now be achieved with plasmid transfection, non-integrative episomal vectors, Piggy-Bac transposition, self-excisable vectors or by the delivery of reprogramming proteins. The universality of the process has been demonstrated by the generation of iPS cells from different species, as well as from different sources of somatic cells including fibroblasts, CD34+ cells, adipose cells, HUVEC cells, keratinocytes, neural stem cells or hepatocytes. Here, we report the generation of iPS cells from human astrocytes with a similar efficiency to keratinocytes, one of the human somatic cell types with the highest reported reprogramming efficiency to date. ASThiPS cells show a pluripotent gene expression signature.