ASCL1 and cancer: Ascl1 has been shown to have roles in stem cell quiescence, as well as in stem/progenitor cell proliferation and differentiation during development and in adulthood, and it would be interesting to understand more about how these potentially opposing activities are controlled in normal development and subverted in cancer (Carén et al., 2015; Martynoga et al., 2013; Urbán et al., 2016).