First come, first served: Mammalian recombination is timed to replication

Meiotic recombination drives the formation of new chromosomes in germ cells and is essential for fertility in mammals. In this issue of Cell, Pratto et al. have developed a method to map replication origins directly in mammalian tissue for the first time, revealing evolutionary conservation between replication timing and meiotic recombination in males.

Automated summary

The study reveals evolutionary conservation between replication timing and meiotic recombination in males through mapping replication origins directly in mammalian tissue for the first time. This provides new insights into understanding germ cell formation.