Necessity to Evaluate Epigenetic Quality of the Sperm for Assisted Reproductive Technology

Spermatogenesis is a highly complex process involving dynamic erasure and establishment of epigenetic modifications. Abnormal epigenetic marks have been shown to result in altered spermatogenesis and even cause male infertility. Assisted reproductive technology, with directly dealing and selecting the morphology qualified sperm, can be applied to treat male infertility, which may carry significant risks of passing on epigenetic defects to next generations. Selecting epigenetic qualified sperm is an effective way to reduce the risk of inheritance between generations. In this review, we mainly assess the risks of sperm with epigenetic defects and their effects on offspring health, to provide some basic information for the quality control of sperm via detecting their epigenetic biomarkers, which is essential for successfully treating male infertility via assisted reproductive technology.