**7. Conclusions**

Whether they are unrepaired or falsely repaired oxidized bases promoting the creation of de novo mutations in the embryo, multiple epigenetic alterations (whether due to changes in the methylation/hydroxymethylation status of sperm cytosines, the paternally-associated histone code and/or the sperm ncRNA profile), it is obvious that oxidative stress will have a profound impact on the sperm structures and functions as well as on the messages it carries in the oocyte and embryo. These are important questions that still need to be better assessed, especially with regard to the clinical consequences of ART. As sperm DNA oxidation is much more common in infertile patients than sperm DNA fragmentation, a better understanding of its consequences on the embryo and the future individual is needed. In particular, artificial oxidative situations generated in the context of ART should be seriously evaluated, as they may partly explain the low success rate associated with this technology, which has not improved significantly over the past 25 years.

**Author Contributions:** J.R.D. wrote the manuscript which was then edited and revised by R.J.A. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The two authors are scientific advisors to an American biotechnology company (CellOxess LLC, New Jersey, USA) specializing in the commercialization of antioxidant supplements for the treatment of oxidative stress.
