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The Y chromosome is a genomic niche for genes involved in male gamete production. The existence of an azoospermia factor (AZF) in its long arm is a key genetic determinant for spermatogenesis since its deletion is associated with infertility. Deletions in the AZFc region are the most frequent known genetic cause of male infertility. This region contains eight gene families involved in spermatogenesis, including Deleted in Azoospermia (DAZ) and the Chromodomain Protein Y (CDY) genes. AZFc displays significant variation across the male population; nonetheless, the phenotypical consequences of some of these variants remain unclear. Many Y-chromosome geographically differentiated haplogroups have been defined in the human population. However, the information available on the Y chromosome sequence in GenBank belongs only to the European haplogroup R. Recent studies have shown that high mutation rates have driven extensive structural polymorphism among human Y chromosomes.

INSTITUTION: Institut für molekulare Medizin und Zellforschung, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg. The International Master in Biomedical Sciences (IMBS) team invites you to the Symposium “Science, Ethics and Arts”. IMBS is a joint Program and collaboration between the Albert Ludwig University Freiburg and the University of Buenos Aires. We annually welcome students from all parts of the world. We warmly invite you to attend the Workshop "Science, Ethics and Arts", which is subject to registration from Monday, October 10 to Thursday, October 13, 2016. This Workshop is an integral part of the two-year Master program in Biomedical Sciences. Lecturers from the Albert Ludwig University Freiburg, the Thales Academy Freiburg, the University of Buenos Aires, FLACSO Buenos Aires, and the National University of Mexico will address topics related to the ethics of human health, science, technology, and research.

INSTITUTION: Institut für molekulare Medizin und Zellforschung, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg. The International Master in Biomedical Sciences (IMBS) team invites you to the Symposium “Science, Ethics and Arts”. IMBS is a joint Program and collaboration between the Albert Ludwig University Freiburg and the University of Buenos Aires. We annually welcome students from all parts of the world. We warmly invite you to attend the Symposium "Science, Ethics and Arts", which is open to the general public on Friday, October 14. Please register at felicitas.holzer@josha-archive.org. The Symposium is preceded by a four-day intense Training Course and Workshop. Speakers from the Albert Ludwig University Freiburg, University of Buenos Aires, FLACSO Buenos Aires, the National University of Mexico, and the National Centre of Tumor Diseases (NCT) Heidelberg will address topics related to the ethics of human health, environment, science, technology, and research.

INSTITUTION: Department of Social Science, Health and Medicine, King’s College, London, UK. The increasing tendency to run clinical trials offshore in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) has been extensively documented. In parallel, in high-income countries (HICs) as the US, we are witnessing the emergence of new forms of clinical research where un(der)insured fractions of the population are trading access for participation to health-care to which they would otherwise not have access. We first discuss Wertheimer’s analysis of offshored clinical trials as mutually advantageous exploitative transactions. We then argue that to make sense of what is morally problematic with the offshoring of clinical research it is necessary to broaden the ethical analysis, as there are different kinds of moral wrongs that can be linked to exploitation.

The current issue of the Journal of Science, Humanities and Arts brings us seven novel contributions to the scientific, humanities, and arts fields. In this issue we have published two master theses in the field of biomolecular sciences, the collaboration between arts and science, the story of Wiktor Feliks Szokalski ‘The Father of Ophthalmology in Poland’, bioinformatic studies on a buffalo prolactin-derived anti-angiogenic peptide, an interview with Michael Röckner, and the paintings of Karin Lotzwi.

Eukaryotic recombinase protein Rad51 is the key player in homologous recombination, an essential DNA repair mechanism used for the repair of double-strand breaks. Double-strand breaks can lead to chromosome fragmentation and are particularly hazardous during and shortly after DNA replication. The mechanism of homologous recombination is highly conserved between species and recombinase proteins are expressed in a wide range of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. The primary event in homologous recombination is the formation of a helical nucleoprotein filament on single- stranded DNA overhangs around double-strand breaks. The nucleoprotein filament mediates all subsequent steps of homologous recombination and is capable of performing strand exchange reactions unassisted in vitro. Dynamic assembly and disassembly interactions between the nucleoprotein filament and its DNA substrate are essential for strand exchange.

Homologous recombination is an essential DNA repair mechanism in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. It especially plays an important role in the repair of broken or stalled replication forks and is vital for proper chromosome segregation and immunoglobulin diversity. The main event in homologous recombination is the formation of a nucleoprotein filament by RecA-like proteins. Assembly of this filament is the rate-limiting step in recombination and it mediates subsequent stages of repair. Single-molecule experiments have given great insights into the physical mechanism and function of the nucleoprotein filament. In vivo, however, many recombination mediators are involved in the processes and various complex pathways are activated. INSTITUTION: VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Sciences, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Physics of Living Systems

Art-science collaborations organize interdisciplinary inquiries around research themes of mutual interest. The clash between art’s open-endedness, and its mortal enemy, the hypothesis-driven protocol, make it difficult for scientists to understand how art-science collaborations can be mutually beneficial. As it turns out, the boundary-challenging aspects of these collaborations often force participants to question the context of their research and their discipline’s internal culture. Deep collaborations, especially those aided by technological enhancements, could lead to a sort of creative hypothesis-generating ambiance among participants. Art-science collaborations will and should continue to proliferate as we enter a yet another renaissance showing that interdisciplinary cross-pollination is the mother of invention.

Wiktor Feliks Szokalski had an eventful life as a physician. He joined the Polish army in 1831. Szokalski was expatriated and immigrated to Germany, where he continued his medical studies in Gießen. He specialized in ophthalmology in Heidelberg and Würzburg. Later, he moved to Paris and became an assistant physician in Dr. Sichel’s Ophthalmological Clinic in 1838. Szokalski gave lectures in ophthalmology in Paris. After completing his French thesis on the topic “Sur la diplopie unioculaire ou la double vision d’un oeil” in 1839, he became co-editor of the Journal »L’Esculape«. In 1844 he was the founder and first president of the Society of German Physicians in Paris. He was nominated head of the hospital in Alice-Sainte-Reine (Burgundy) and kept that position for five years; in addition, he was nominated as railroad physician in Lyon. In 1853 he returned to the Kingdom of Poland and became director of Lubomirski’s Institute of Ophthalmology in 1858.

A 14-amino acid sequence within the buffalo prolactin (buPRL) protein has been identified by BLAST search as similar to that of somatostatin, the gold standard for determining anti-angiogenic activity. A synthetic peptide with the same sequence has been shown to exhibit powerful anti-angiogenic activity, possibly by functioning as a kallikrein-kinin system (KKS) antagonist. In order to further study this peptide’s anti-angiogenic nature, bioinformatics tools were used to analyze its interaction with the bradykinin B1 receptor, which is a component of the KKS. Molecular docking studies were conducted in silico using structures of bradykinin B1 receptor obtained by homology modeling using SWISS-MODEL via the EXPASY web server, as well as a structure of the synthetic peptide that was modeled by the PEP-FOLD de novo modeling server.