Introducing lineage-specific transcription factors (TFs) into somatic cells enables the induction of distinct cellular identities without the need to first pass through a pluripotent stem cell (PSC) state. We and others have demonstrated the direct conversion of somatic cells into adult stem cells or progenitor cells, such as angioblast-like progenitor cells, hematopoietic stem cells, and neural stem cells. The process underlying direct conversion is known to be relatively simpler and faster than that of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) generation. Furthermore, directly converted cells have been shown to exhibit therapeutic potential following transplantation into respective disease models without obvious evidence for tumor formation. Thus, TF-mediated direct conversion technology has been considered as an alternative to iPSC technology for patient-specific cell- and tissue-replacement therapies. Here we show our recent findings describing the robust direct conversion of differentiated somatic cells into distinct cellular identities. Furthermore, we also show the recent 3D organoid technology for generating brain tissues from human pluripotent stem cells.