We are currently engaged in the discovery of multipotency of nerve-associated Schwann-cell precursors, a population of neural crest derived cells with exceptional plasticity and distribution in the body. These studies introduced a radically new concept for developmental biology in that defined precursor pools existing in a highly specialized niche use nerves as conduits to migrate and differentiate through temporally and spatially delineated nerve-Schwann cell communication. Can Schwann cells be genuinely multipotent? If so, this would transform the above discoveries into a global concept in which nerve-associated progenitors could generate various cell types during not only physiological development but also adulthood.