This is the second issue of volume 6 of Spermatogenesis since we first launched our journal back in January 2011. While six years do not seem like a very long time for a scientific journal, we have witnessed rapid changes and advancement in the field these past years, even amidst budget constraints in many laboratories across the globe due to cutback from funding agencies. However, these setbacks have actually helped investigators to become more focused in their studies, using limited budgets and resources in the laboratory to perform innovative studies with better designed experiments, while also trying to relate research studies to diseases and/or improving human health, such as treating infertility in men. Furthermore, we have also seen technological advances in all fronts and the development of multiple animal models to study spermatogenesis, besides the traditional gene knock-out or knock-in models. For instance, we have seen exciting advances in the culture of human undifferentiated spermatogonia or rodent spermatogonial stem cells into functional spermatids. This important technological advance can likely be used in the near future for in vitro fertilization to help infertile men with non-obstructive azoospermia to father their own children. During these past six years, Spermatogenesis has published several very well-received special issues, which include “Drosophila Spermatogenesis,” “Testicular Toxicity,” and “Spermatogenesis in Non-Mammalian and Vertebrates.” These issues were edited by leading senior investigators in the field, and the contributors were active and leading investigators. These issues will remain as important sources of references for investigators in the years to come.
We are also grateful to many of the board members and readers of our journal who contribute to the journal's growth by publishing some of their best work in Spermatogenesis. We will continue to do our best to maintain the quality of our journal, and I encourage scientists and readers, including our board members, to consider Spermatogenesis to publish your data, innovative techniques, ideas, thoughts, and concepts in the coming issues. I also welcome ideas and suggestions to further improve our journal, with which you can e-mail me at [email protected]. Furthermore, I also want to thank our journal staff, in particular Ms. Karen Benskin, our Managing Editor; Ms. Megan Hein, our Production Editor; and Mr. Zachary Ayres, our Peer Review Systems Coordinator, all of whom have worked relentlessly hard to maintain the quality of our journal in the past year. I am also grateful that I can be part of this professional team to serve the readers of Spermatogenesis.