Cellulose is the most abundant organic material on the earth: it is the main constituent of plants, also pres- ent in bacteria, fungi, algae and even in animals. Despite all its advantageous properties like high strength, durability, thermal stability, biocompatibility, biodegradability, relatively low cost and low density, cellulose lacks some of the versatile properties of synthetic polymers. Therefore, chemical modification of the cellulose structure is necessary in most cases to overcome the existing drawbacks. The synthesis of cellulosic graft copolymers through the introduction of branches (grafts) of synthetic polymers that impart specific proper- ties onto the cellulose substrate is one of the key ways of modifying the physical and chemical properties of cellulose. The recent advances in the field of controlled radical polymerization (CRP) methods provide unique opportunities to tailor the surface properties of graft copolymers by controlling the graft length, the architec- ture and the composition. This study reviews our previous works investigating the modification of cellulose via graft copolymerization mediated by Reversible Addition Fragmentation chain Transfer (RAFT) polymerization, one of the most powerful CRP methods.