Cellular reprogramming described a switch of one kind of cell to that of another unrelated cell type by specific methods, which included mammalian somatic cell nuclear transfer, cell fusion, induction of pluripotency by ectopic gene expression, and cell-free extract treatment. Now, more and more researches have proved that cell extract treatment is an important strategy of cellular reprogramming, thus the mechanism and the applicative prospect of this technology are summarized in this review.