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Topic · Biochemistry

Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis

Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis is a research topic within Biochemistry. Science Explorer counts 26k research works in it since 1950. 10.0% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the diverse aspects of lipid metabolism, including the synthesis and storage of lipids in various organisms. It covers topics such as lipid droplets, triacylglycerol synthesis, adipose tissue lipolysis, glycerolipids, fatty acid biosynthesis, phospholipid metabolism, diacylglycerol acyltransferase, perilipin proteins, seed oil production, and chloroplast lipid biogenesis.

  • Lipid Droplets
  • Triacylglycerol Synthesis
  • Adipose Tissue Lipolysis
  • Glycerolipids
  • Fatty Acid Biosynthesis
  • Phospholipid Metabolism
  • Diacylglycerol Acyltransferase
  • Perilipin Proteins
  • Seed Oil Production
  • Chloroplast Lipid Biogenesis
Research works
26k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.6k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+9%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
49% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis

Which countries lead Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (1.5k and 632 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 1.5k works
  2. 2 United States 632 works
  3. 3 India 194 works
  4. 4 Japan 171 works
  5. 5 Germany 138 works
  6. 6 France 116 works
  7. 7 South Korea 95 works
  8. 8 Canada 83 works
  9. 9 Italy 78 works
  10. 10 Spain 75 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: 48.7%United States: 20.5%India: 6.3%Japan: 5.5%6 others listed: 19.0%49%largest
China1,501 · 48.7%United States632 · 20.5%India194 · 6.3%Japan171 · 5.5%6 others listed587 · 19.0%

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

Which institutions lead Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis research?

By volume in 2022-now, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences publishes the most Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis research, followed by Chinese Academy of Sciences and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of Agricultural SciencesChina 104 works
  2. 2 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 65 works
  3. 3 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 35 works
  4. 4 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 32 works
  5. 5 Ministry of Agriculture and Rural AffairsChina 29 works
  6. 6 Huazhong Agricultural UniversityChina 25 works
  7. 7 Zhejiang UniversityChina 23 works
  8. 8 Indian Council of Agricultural ResearchIndia 22 works
  9. 9 Northwest A&F UniversityChina 21 works
  10. 10 United States Department of AgricultureUnited States 20 works

Who are the leading researchers in Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis include George Davey Smith, Walter Churchill Willett and Mark J. Daly.

  1. 1 George Davey Smith United Kingdom 435k citations
  2. 2 Walter Churchill Willett United States 411k citations
  3. 3 Mark J. Daly United States 403k citations
  4. 4 Guido Kroemer France 386k citations
  5. 5 Jun Wang China 340k citations
  6. 6 Mika Kivimäki United Kingdom 318k citations
  7. 7 Matthias Mann Germany 308k citations
  8. 8 Gonçalo R. Abecasis United States 300k citations
  9. 9 Luigi Ferrucci United States 281k citations
  10. 10 Frank B. Hu United States 281k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis?

The most cited paper in Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis is "Preparation of fatty acid methyl esters and dimethylacetals from lipids with boron fluoride–methanol" (William R. Morrison, Lloyd M. Smith, 1964), with 6,001 citations. Next come "Regulation of the mevalonate pathway" (5,449) and "Direct activation of calcium-activated, phospholipid-dependent protein kinase by tumor-promoting phorbol esters." (4,765).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Preparation of fatty acid methyl esters and dimethylacetals from lipids with boron fluoride–methanol William R. Morrison, Lloyd M. Smith · Journal of Lipid Research Open access Oct 1964 6,001
2 Regulation of the mevalonate pathway Joseph L. Goldstein, Michael S. Brown · Nature Feb 1990 5,449
3 Direct activation of calcium-activated, phospholipid-dependent protein kinase by tumor-promoting phorbol esters. Marco T. Castagna, Yoshimi Takai, Kozo Kaibuchi et al. · Journal of Biological Chemistry Open access Jul 1982 4,765
4 Lipid Rafts As a Membrane-Organizing Principle Daniel Lingwood, Kai Simons · Science 31 Dec 2009 4,485
5 Metabolism of Isolated Fat Cells Martin Rodbell · Journal of Biological Chemistry Open access Feb 1964 4,432
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis research done?

The largest centres of Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Wuhan (China), Nanjing (China) and Guangzhou (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Yangling, Haikou and Wuxi.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 229 works
  2. 2 WuhanChina 78 works
  3. 3 NanjingChina 70 works
  4. 4 GuangzhouChina 69 works
  5. 5 ShanghaiChina 68 works
  6. 6 HangzhouChina 56 works
  7. 7 ParisFrance 49 works
  8. 8 JinanChina 47 works
  9. 9 ChangshaChina 43 works
  10. 10 TokyoJapan 42 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. YanglingCN · 21.1 works14×
  2. HaikouCN · 23.2 works6.9×
  3. WuxiCN · 25.3 works6.8×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis than the world average.

See Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis on the map

Where is the best place to study Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis?

Among universities, judged by research, Wageningen University & Research, Zhejiang University and Harvard University 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%10%20%30%mean 19.29%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Harvard UniversityWageningen Universit…Zhejiang UniversityHuazhong Agricultura…
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Wageningen University & ResearchNetherlands 77.418.5%10.0×12 +60.1%
2Zhejiang UniversityChina 68.617.9%2.5×23 +40.5%
3Harvard UniversityUnited States 68.022.2%1.6×17 -11.6%
4Huazhong Agricultural UniversityChina 66.611.0%22.4×25 +4.6%
5Sun Yat-sen UniversityChina 66.524.2%2.2×15 +39.8%
6Peking UniversityChina 63.224.2%2.0×14 +32.8%
7Shandong UniversityChina 59.724.8%2.4×11 +52.0%
8Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 55.519.3%1.8×17 +9.2%
9Northeast Agricultural UniversityChina 55.014.8%16.9×15 +171.4%
10Central South UniversityChina 53.416.0%2.2×15 +62.1%

Universities only. The score blends excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis, country by country

Is Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 9% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

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

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.015% in 2024.

still counting0.050%0.10%Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis0.016% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Lipid metabolism and biosynthesis10.1% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

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.

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