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Subfield · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Biotechnology research

Biotechnology is a subfield of Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology. Science Explorer counts 230k research works in it since 1950. 18.8% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

In short: use of living systems and organisms to develop or make useful products.

Research works
230k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
43k
per year above
Top-10% rate
18.8%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Topics
8
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+8%
the tick is no change

What is Biotechnology research about, and what is growing?

By the world's output in 2019–23, its most used keywords are Gene Therapy, Microbial Inactivation, Bacterial Therapy, Tumor Targeting, Biosynthesis, Biotechnological Production. Gaining share since 2009–13: Ferulic Acid, Vanillin, Electroporation, Irreversible Electroporation, Biosynthesis. Losing share: Marine Natural Products, Sponge-Associated Microorganisms.

▲ gaining share of this field◆ holding its share▼ losing share

Size is the world's fractional works in 2019–23 in the topics tagged with each word; colour compares the word's share of this field with 2009–13. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 20 words, with their numbers
  1. Gene Therapy14k◆ 1.03×2 topics
  2. Microbial Inactivation9,258▲ 1.16×2 topics
  3. Bacterial Therapy8,742◆ 0.93×1 topic
  4. Tumor Targeting8,742◆ 0.93×1 topic
  5. Biosynthesis7,495▲ 1.19×2 topics
  6. Biotechnological Production7,495▲ 1.19×2 topics
  7. Biotechnological Applications7,352◆ 0.90×1 topic
  8. Microbial Enzymes7,352◆ 0.90×1 topic
  9. Electroporation5,155▲ 1.25×1 topic
  10. Irreversible Electroporation5,155▲ 1.25×1 topic
  11. Food Colorants4,661◆ 1.03×1 topic
  12. Microbial Pigments4,661◆ 1.03×1 topic
  13. Plant Molecular Farming4,156◆ 0.95×1 topic
  14. Recombinant Proteins4,156◆ 0.95×1 topic
  15. Foodborne Illness4,103◆ 1.07×1 topic
  16. Listeria monocytogenes4,103◆ 1.07×1 topic
  17. Marine Natural Products3,762▼ 0.82×1 topic
  18. Sponge-Associated Microorganisms3,762▼ 0.82×1 topic
  19. Ferulic Acid2,834▲ 1.59×1 topic
  20. Vanillin2,834▲ 1.59×1 topic

Which countries lead Biotechnology research?

On research quality in 2022–2025, China, the United States and India rank highest in Biotechnology. By volume, China and the United States publish the most (7.9k and 4.5k works in 2022–2025).

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China · #2 all time 27.0% top 10% · 7.9k works
  2. 2 United States · #1 all time 15.8% top 10% · 4.5k works
  3. 3 India · #6 all time 18.2% top 10% · 2.8k works
  4. 4 Italy · #10 all time 22.2% top 10% · 725 works
  5. 5 United Kingdom · #3 all time 20.2% top 10% · 632 works
  6. 6 Germany · #4 all time 18.0% top 10% · 900 works
  7. 7 Spain · #9 all time 22.5% top 10% · 658 works
  8. 8 Brazil · #13 all time 14.9% top 10% · 1.1k works
  9. 9 Iran · #22 all time 20.1% top 10% · 583 works
  10. 10 South Korea · #15 all time 16.3% top 10% · 925 works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 30 countries ranked in Biotechnology. Composite of field-normalised excellence (50%), output (30%) and citations (20%); the bracket is the all-time rank.

All countries ranked in Biotechnology

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 China 7.9k works
  2. 2 United States 4.5k works
  3. 3 India 2.8k works
  4. 4 Indonesia 1.2k works
  5. 5 Japan 1.1k works
  6. 6 Brazil 1.1k works
  7. 7 South Korea 925 works
  8. 8 Germany 900 works
  9. 9 Italy 725 works
  10. 10 France 709 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

China: 36.2%United States: 20.7%India: 12.9%Indonesia: 5.3%6 others listed: 24.8%36%largest
China7,938 · 36.2%United States4,544 · 20.7%India2,835 · 12.9%Indonesia1,170 · 5.3%6 others listed5,442 · 24.8%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Biotechnology research?

Jiangnan University (China) ranks first in Biotechnology on research quality in 2022–2025, followed by Jiangsu University and China Agricultural University.

By research quality, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Jiangnan University China · Wuxi · #21 all time 36.5% top 10% · 186 works
  2. 2 Jiangsu University China · Zhenjiang · #60 all time 45.1% top 10% · 75 works
  3. 3 China Agricultural University China · Beijing · #61 all time 35.9% top 10% · 95 works
  4. 4 Chinese Academy of Sciences China · Beijing · #28 all time 28.8% top 10% · 108 works
  5. 5 Beijing Technology and Business University China · Beijing 41.4% top 10% · 66 works
  6. 6 State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology China · Wuxi · #66 all time 36.2% top 10% · 89 works
  7. 7 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College China · Beijing 20.6% top 10% · 89 works
  8. 8 Sichuan University China · Chengdu 30.7% top 10% · 76 works
  9. 9 Northwest A&F University China · Yangling · #89 all time 37.7% top 10% · 75 works
  10. 10 Zhejiang University China · Hangzhou · #49 all time 28.8% top 10% · 85 works

The track on each row is that row’s top-10% rate. The ranking itself is the composite score, which the rate is only one part of.

Of 20 institutions above the floor of 40 fractional works in Biotechnology.

Top 100 Biotechnology institutions

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Jiangnan University China 185 works
  2. 2 Chinese Academy of Sciences China 108 works
  3. 3 China Agricultural University China 95 works
  4. 4 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College China 89 works
  5. 5 State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology China 89 works
  6. 6 Zhejiang University China 85 works
  7. 7 Shanghai Jiao Tong University China 84 works
  8. 8 Universidade de São Paulo Brazil 82 works
  9. 9 The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center United States 78 works
  10. 10 Sichuan University China 76 works

Who are the leading researchers in Biotechnology?

Among the most productive authors in Biotechnology, Bert Vogelstein, Adi F. Gazdar and Drew M. Pardoll rank highest on the composite score.

  1. 1 Bert Vogelstein United States · #173 worldwide 7.1k citations · 114 works
  2. 2 Adi F. Gazdar United States · #308 worldwide 3.3k citations · 164 works
  3. 3 Drew M. Pardoll United States · #597 worldwide 2.9k citations · 108 works
  4. 4 Hans Reichenbach Germany · #1,039 worldwide 1.6k citations · 111 works
  5. 5 Antoni Ribas United States · #1,198 worldwide 2.9k citations · 171 works
  6. 6 Ralph H. Hruban United States · #1,314 worldwide 2.9k citations · 212 works
  7. 7 Darell D. Bigner United States · #1,411 worldwide 2.9k citations · 168 works
  8. 8 Ove Hoegh‐Guldberg Australia · #1,610 worldwide 2.9k citations · 99 works
  9. 9 Erko Stackebrandt Germany · #1,625 worldwide 2.5k citations · 132 works
  10. 10 Anne S. Tsao United States · #1,747 worldwide 1.6k citations · 107 works

Re-ranked on the composite score from the 4,717 highest-output authors in Biotechnology. Identities come from OpenAlex author disambiguation, which occasionally merges or splits people.

Top 100 Biotechnology researchers

Where is Biotechnology research done?

The largest centres of Biotechnology research in 2022–2025 are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Guangzhou (China) and Nanjing (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Wyndmoor.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 Beijing China 1.2k works
  2. 2 Shanghai China 522 works
  3. 3 Guangzhou China 441 works
  4. 4 Nanjing China 387 works
  5. 5 Seoul South Korea 371 works
  6. 6 Hangzhou China 326 works
  7. 7 Moscow Russia 298 works
  8. 8 Tokyo Japan 296 works
  9. 9 Wuxi China 282 works
  10. 10 Wuhan China 268 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. WyndmoorUS · 21.3 works82×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Biotechnology than the world average.

See Biotechnology on the map

Biotechnology research by country

The best places for Biotechnology research inside each country, with that country's researchers and world standing.

Where is the best place to study Biotechnology?

Among universities, judged by research, Jiangnan University, Beijing Technology and Business University and National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%mean 36.07%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →Jiangnan University: 186, 36.5%Beijing Technology and Business University: 66, 41.4%National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management: 20, 44.3%BOKU University: 32, 31.5%Institute of Chemical Technology: 34, 33.7%Northwest A&F University: 75, 37.7%Jiangsu University: 75, 45.1%China Agricultural University: 95, 35.9%Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research: 51, 24.1%Tianjin University of Science and Technology: 52, 30.5%National Institute o…Beijing Technology a…Jiangnan UniversityBOKU University
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Jiangnan University China 72.136.5%9.7×186 -21.2%
2Beijing Technology and Business University China 72.141.4%9.6×66 +74.9%
3National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management India 65.144.3%20.7×20 —
4BOKU University Austria 63.331.5%9.9×32 +2.3%
5Institute of Chemical Technology India 60.833.7%11.7×34 +31.5%
6Northwest A&F University China 58.837.7%6.0×75 +11.1%
7Jiangsu University China 55.345.1%3.1×75 -3.8%
8China Agricultural University China 54.735.9%5.3×95 -37.1%
9Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research India 54.424.1%5.0×51 +672.3%
10Tianjin University of Science and Technology China 54.230.5%8.4×52 -21.3%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is Biotechnology research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 8% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Biochemical and biochemical processes, Microbial Inactivation Methods and Listeria monocytogenes in Food Safety.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

  1. Biochemical and biochemical processes+96%
  2. Microbial Inactivation Methods+60%
  3. Listeria monocytogenes in Food Safety+51%
  4. Microbial Metabolism and Applications+44%
  5. Cancer Research and Treatments+36%
  6. Enzyme Production and Characterization+29%
← shrinkingno changegrowing →

Growth in output from 2005–09 to 2015–19. Every topic is a page of its own.

What does Biotechnology include?

Enzyme Production and Ch…50kEnzyme Production and Characterization: 50k fractional worksCancer Research and Trea…48kCancer Research and Treatments: 48k fractional worksTransgenic Plants and Applications: 27k fractional worksMarine Sponges and Natur…25kMarine Sponges and Natural Products: 25k fractional worksMicrobial Inactivation M…24kMicrobial Inactivation Methods: 24k fractional worksMicrobial Metabolism and Applications: 22k fractional worksListeria monocytogenes in Food Safety: 21k fractional worksBiochemical and biochemical processes: 12k fractional works

Area is fractional works in that topic. Every name below is a page of its own.