Multiple evolutionary and genomic studies demonstrate that genetic recombination counters Muller's ratchet, allowing sexual populations to purge deleterious mutations more effectively than asexual ones.
The retrieved papers consistently support the claim that sexual recombination helps populations avoid or mitigate the accumulation of deleterious mutations (Muller's ratchet), whereas a lack of recombination in asexual or bottlenecked populations leads to fitness loss and genetic load. No papers refute this claim.