Techniques for reprogramming adult cells are much sought after for creating cells to genetically match those of patients. Such embryonic stem cells might be used therapeutically without immune rejection. One reprogramming method is somatic cell nuclear transfer, where an adult cell nucleus is inserted into an oocyte that has its own nucleus removed. An early (blastocyst) stage embryo is induced to form, from which embryonic stem cells are teased out and cultured. Previously, this was possible only in mice. Now Byrne et al. have succeeded with the technique using primate adult fibroblasts as the start point. They generated two embryonic stem cell lines from 304 oocytes taken from 14 rhesus monkeys. This success suggests that this approach might be suitable for generating patient-derived embryonic stem cells. [Article p. 497, News p. 462; News & Views p. 485; www.nature.com/podcast] A validation paper [doi:10.1038/nature 06456] accompanies this package on the Nature web site. The colorized cover image shows an egg just prior to enucleation. The egg is held by a holding pipette and to the right, a sharp enucleation pipette points towards the nucleus.