As we all feel the impact of and anticipate the containment of COVID-19, Systems Biology in Reproductive Medicine (SBiRM) offers a unique perspective. SBiRM covers a combination of the male and female reproductive medicine and sciences reflective of the contribution of each couple to the birth of a healthy child. We continue to champion papers that collectively embrace the integration of basic, agricultural, and clinical research, directed toward the benefit of the public. Animal studies and model systems continue to offer insights into what would be considered intractable questions when addressed in human systems. The journal’s rising impact factor parallels the marked increase in the number of papers submitted and the number of papers downloaded. We anticipate our journal to continue its growth in 2021, offering a collection of publications that show breadth and synergy upholding the value of our long-standing bench to bedside philosophy.
Several changes are reflected in SBiRM’s Editorial Board. We were saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. P. Sassone-Corsi, one of our inaugural Editorial Board Members. A glimpse of his life and contributions has been eloquently summarized in ‘Paolo Sassone-Corsi (1956–2020)’ (2020) Science 370(6516):532, by E. Verdin. He will be missed by all. Dr. P.H. Vogt, a valued and inaugural Board Member, announced his retirement and will be leaving the Board. We thank him for his many years of involvement in and support of the journal, and wish him the best as he grows into his next adventure. Drs. S.A. Pangas and S. Korzeniewski are also leaving the Board; we thank them for serving on the Editorial Board and wish them both the best.
The growth of our Board continues to reflect the breadth of interests represented in our journal. SBiRM is pleased to welcome nine new Editorial Board Members. We look forward to adding their expertise in statistics, epidemiology, environmental perturbation, sperm epigenetics, genetics and its clinical and practical applications, cell fate determination, early embryo development, the peri-implantation period, and urology, to the journal. The new members are Dr. Ester Anton, Department of Cell Biology, Physiology and Immunology, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain; Dr. Susanta K. Behura, Division of Animal Sciences, University of Missouri Animal Science Research Center, Columbia, MO, USA; Dr. Shawn L. Chavez, Division of Reproductive & Developmental Sciences, Oregon National Primate Research Center (ONPRC) and Departments of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Molecular & Medical Genetics at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), OR, USA; Dr. J. Scott Gabrielsen, Department of Urology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA; Dr. Amin Sedaghat Herati, Brady Urological Institute, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA; Dr. Tim Jenkins, Department of Physiology and Developmental Biology, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA; Dr. Sellappan Selvaraju, Reproductive Physiology Laboratory, ICAR-National Institute of Animal Nutrition and Physiology, Bengaluru, India; Dr. Charalampos S. Siristatidis, Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital Aretaieion Medical School, University of Athens, Greece; and Dr. George F. Steinhardt, Urologic Consultants, P.C., Grand Rapids, MI, USA.
This first issue of Volume 67 of SBiRM begins with ‘COVID-19 and human reproduction: A pandemic that packs a serious punch’ by George Anifandis, Helen G. Tempest, Rafael Oliva, Grace M. Swanson, Mara Simopoulou, Charles A. Easley, Michael Primig, Christina I. Messini, Paul J. Turek, Peter Sutovsky, Steve J. Ory, and Stephen A. Krawetz. This Review Article coordinated by Board Member Dr. Anaifandis explored COVID-19 from the vantage points of nine Editorial Board Members reflective of the scope of the journal. Critical research areas that spanned from understanding and developing a response to the pandemic and the ethics we faced were examined. The next paper, a Review and Hypothesis ‘Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR), fatty acids and microRNAs: Implications in women delivering low birth weight babies’ by Deepali P. Sundrani, Aishwarya R. Karkhanis, and Sadhana R. Joshi, provides a foundation for the hypothesis that fatty acid induced miRNAs, in part, mediate the placental PPAR response. This is followed by a Clinical: Research Communication ‘Effect of ovarian stimulation on embryo aneuploidy and mosaicism rate’ by Alba Cascales, Belen Lledó, Jose A. Ortiz, Ruth Morales, Jorge Ten, Joaquin Llácer, and Rafael Bernabeu, suggesting the at differences in the rate of ovarian stimulation can impact aneuploidy during each in vitro fertilization cycle. The Research Communication ‘Sperm performance in oligoasthenoteratozoospermic patients is induced by a nutraceuticals mix, containing mainly myo-inositol’ by Marta Santoro, Saveria Aquila, and Giampiero Russo follows, suggesting that this nutraceuticals mix may act both directly and indirectly to increase sperm capacitation in oligoasthenoteratozoospermic individuals. Next, we have three Research Articles beginning with ‘A machine learning system with reinforcement capacity for predicting the fate of an ART embryo’, by Sandrine Giscard d’Estaing, Elsa Labrune, Maxence Forcellini, Cecile Edel, Bruno Salle, Jacqueline Lornage, and Mehdi Benchaib, that toward protocol optimization utilizes a computational framework, to begin to model the characteristics of success. This is followed by ‘Astaxanthin inhibiting oxidative stress damage of placental trophoblast cells in vitro’ by Jiu-Yuan Fu, Yang Jing, Yan-Ping Xiao, Xiao-Hua Wang, Yan-Wei Guo, and Yan-Ju Zhu, who use the HTR-9-SVneo system to examine how astaxanthin may mediate oxidative stress. The last paper of this issue, the Research Article titled ‘Orchestrating the expression levels of sperm mRNAs reveals CCDC174 as an important determinant of semen quality and bull fertility’ is by new Board Member Sellappan Selvaraju with coauthors Divakar Swathi, Laxman Ramya, Maharajan Lavanya, Santhanahalli Siddalingappa Archana, and Muniandy Sivaram. Their summary illustrated in Figure 6 was selected for the cover for the 2021 Volume 67 as it describes an encouraging development toward an RNA-based assay for bull fertility assessment. To access the list of the latest articles published online visit Systems Biology in Reproductive Medicine at http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/iaan20/current.
The previous year was dominated by the pandemic and this year begins under the cloud of COVID-19 as light begins to shine. We will continue to be challenged, but we are on a path forward to meet the brighter days ahead. New opportunities for furthering discovery in human, animal, and other model systems that span basic science, agriculture, and medicine await. We look forward to publishing developments within a systems approach framework from model to human as a cornerstone to advancing Personalized and Precision Reproductive Medicine.
Thank you for your ongoing support of Systems Biology in Reproductive Medicine. We wish our scientific and medical communities, those just beginning their career and all, a healthy, robust, and successful year ahead.
Yours truly,
Stephen A. Krawetz, Editor-in-Chief SBiRM:Systems Biology in Reproductive Medicine, Charlotte B. Failing Professor of Fetal Therapy and Diagnosis, Associate Director, C.S. Mott Center for Human Growth and Development, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Molecular Medicine & Genetics, Wayne State University School of Medicine
Correction Statement
This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.