"During meiosis, homologous recombination plays a mechanical role by connecting homologous chromosomes, thus allowing proper chromosome segregation during the first meiotic division. In most species, the absence of meiotic recombination leads to sterility. In addition, recombination generates new combinations of alleles, increases genome diversity and plays a major role in genome evolution.Meiotic recombination is initiated by the programmed induction of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), but how these events are controlled at the molecular level and how they are constrained by selective pressures during evolution is not understood.Our recent historical discovery that the Prdm9 gene controls the localization of recombination in the mouse and human genomes revolutionizes our view on this process, with one main unanticipated finding: the highly dynamic and fast evolution of Prdm9 and of meiotic DSB sites in the genome. Understanding meiotic recombination clearly requires the development of novel approaches to analyze this process from both molecular and evolutionary perspectives.To this aim, we will develop an extensive analysis of Prdm9 as its activity, role, regulators and sites of action in the genome need to be identified and understood in order to gain insight into its dynamics and evolution.We will develop a unique and challenging strategy to overcome the limitation of laboratory mice and pioneer the analysis of Prdm9 and recombination activity in wild mice.We thus aim at making a breakthrough in the field by bringing molecular genetics and evolutionary biology together, to grasp the significance of meiotic recombination for genome evolution and sexual reproduction in eukaryotes."