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Topic · Biomaterials

Silk-based biomaterials and applications

Silk-based biomaterials and applications is a research topic within Biomaterials. Science Explorer counts 21k 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 focuses on the biomedical applications of silk biomaterials, particularly silk fibroin, in areas such as tissue engineering, drug delivery, and understanding the mechanical properties and protein structure of silk. It also covers topics related to spider silk and regenerated silk, as well as the genome sequencing and biodegradation of silk biomaterials.

  • Silk Fibroin
  • Biomaterials
  • Tissue Engineering
  • Spider Silk
  • Regenerated Silk
  • Drug Delivery
  • Mechanical Properties
  • Genome Sequencing
  • Biodegradation
  • Protein Structure
Research works
21k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.1k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+27%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
46% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Silk-based biomaterials and applications

Which countries lead Silk-based biomaterials and applications research?

By volume, China and India publish the most (1.6k and 527 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 1.6k works
  2. 2 India 527 works
  3. 3 United States 421 works
  4. 4 Iran 195 works
  5. 5 Japan 153 works
  6. 6 South Korea 129 works
  7. 7 Germany 122 works
  8. 8 Türkiye 113 works
  9. 9 Italy 106 works
  10. 10 United Kingdom 101 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: 46.3%India: 15.2%United States: 12.1%Iran: 5.6%6 others listed: 20.8%46%largest
China1,611 · 46.3%India527 · 15.2%United States421 · 12.1%Iran195 · 5.6%6 others listed724 · 20.8%

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

Which institutions lead Silk-based biomaterials and applications research?

By volume in 2022-now, Southwest University publishes the most Silk-based biomaterials and applications research, followed by Soochow University and Chinese Academy of Sciences.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Southwest UniversityChina 58 works
  2. 2 Soochow UniversityChina 58 works
  3. 3 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 53 works
  4. 4 Chinese Academy of Agricultural SciencesChina 40 works
  5. 5 Sichuan UniversityChina 38 works
  6. 6 Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 38 works
  7. 7 Zhejiang UniversityChina 34 works
  8. 8 Zhejiang Sci-Tech UniversityChina 33 works
  9. 9 Donghua UniversityChina 29 works
  10. 10 Jiangnan UniversityChina 26 works

Who are the leading researchers in Silk-based biomaterials and applications?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Silk-based biomaterials and applications include Zhong Lin Wang, Jun Wang and Róbert Langer.

  1. 1 Zhong Lin Wang United States 491k citations
  2. 2 Jun Wang China 340k citations
  3. 3 Róbert Langer United States 303k citations
  4. 4 Ben Zhong Tang China 261k citations
  5. 5 Xiaogang Wang China 260k citations
  6. 6 Amirhossein Sahebkar Iran 258k citations
  7. 7 Huanming Yang China 246k citations
  8. 8 Lei Jiang China 214k 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 Silk-based biomaterials and applications?

The most cited paper in Silk-based biomaterials and applications is "Wound Healing--Aiming for Perfect Skin Regeneration" (Paul B. Martin, 1997), with 4,845 citations. Next come "SATELLITE CELL OF SKELETAL MUSCLE FIBERS" (3,688) and "Regulation of Wound Healing by Growth Factors and Cytokines" (3,647).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Wound Healing--Aiming for Perfect Skin Regeneration Paul B. Martin · Science 4 Apr 1997 4,845
2 SATELLITE CELL OF SKELETAL MUSCLE FIBERS Alexander A Mauro · The Journal of Cell Biology Open access Feb 1961 3,688
3 Regulation of Wound Healing by Growth Factors and Cytokines Sabine Werner, Richard Philip Grose · Physiological Reviews Review Jul 2003 3,647
4 Silk-based biomaterials Gregory H. Altman, Frank Diaz, Caroline M. Jakuba et al. · Biomaterials 4 Nov 2002 3,463
5 Materials fabrication from Bombyx mori silk fibroin Danielle N. Rockwood, Rucsanda C. Preda, Tuna Yücel et al. · Nature Protocols Open access 22 Sep 2011 3,106
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Silk-based biomaterials and applications research done?

The largest centres of Silk-based biomaterials and applications research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Hangzhou (China) and Tehran (Iran). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Medford, Suzhou and Wuxi.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 183 works
  2. 2 ShanghaiChina 155 works
  3. 3 HangzhouChina 103 works
  4. 4 TehranIran 91 works
  5. 5 ChongqingChina 81 works
  6. 6 NanjingChina 75 works
  7. 7 GuangzhouChina 72 works
  8. 8 WuhanChina 68 works
  9. 9 SuzhouChina 65 works
  10. 10 ChengduChina 56 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. MedfordUS · 22.8 works18×
  2. SuzhouCN · 64.8 works8.2×
  3. WuxiCN · 30.4 works6.8×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Silk-based biomaterials and applications than the world average.

See Silk-based biomaterials and applications on the map

Where is the best place to study Silk-based biomaterials and applications?

Among universities, judged by research, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Tufts University and Sichuan 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%20%40%mean 19.17%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Shanghai Jiao Tong U…Tufts UniversityZhejiang UniversitySichuan University
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
1Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 67.421.4%3.2×38 +33.5%
2Tufts UniversityUnited States 62.820.5%12.0×23 -29.5%
3Sichuan UniversityChina 60.115.0%4.1×38 +96.3%
4Zhejiang UniversityChina 58.917.5%3.0×34 +28.6%
5Donghua UniversityChina 57.818.8%19.4×30 +6.2%
6Soochow UniversityChina 57.68.0%14.4×58 +5.4%
7Southeast UniversityChina 57.234.2%1.6×10 +63.4%
8Wenzhou Medical UniversityChina 54.819.8%6.1×13 +130.6%
9National University of SingaporeSingapore 54.719.8%2.3×11 +1.0%
10Fudan UniversityChina 54.416.7%3.7×24 +36.4%

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 Silk-based biomaterials and applications, country by country

Is Silk-based biomaterials and applications research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 27% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Silk-based biomaterials and applications.

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 Silk-based biomaterials and applications as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.022% in 2024.

still counting0.010%0.020%0.030%Silk-based biomaterials and applications0.021% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Silk-based biomaterials and applications 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%Silk-based biomaterials and applications10.1% 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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