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Topic · Biochemistry

Sulfur Compounds in Biology

Sulfur Compounds in Biology is a research topic within Biochemistry. Science Explorer counts 22k 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 redox environment and cellular metabolism, with a particular emphasis on the role of glutathione, hydrogen sulfide, and oxidative stress. It explores the implications of these molecules in cell signaling, thiol detection, cysteine metabolism, mitochondrial function, inflammation, and their potential as antioxidants. The cluster also delves into the development of fluorescent probes for bioimaging related to redox biology.

  • Glutathione
  • Hydrogen Sulfide
  • Oxidative Stress
  • Cell Signaling
  • Thiol Detection
  • Cysteine Metabolism
  • Mitochondrial Function
  • Inflammation
  • Antioxidant
  • Bioimaging
Research works
22k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.2k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.0%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+11%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
China
60% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Sulfur Compounds in Biology

Which countries lead Sulfur Compounds in Biology research?

By volume, China and the United States publish the most (2k and 410 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 China 2k works
  2. 2 United States 410 works
  3. 3 India 277 works
  4. 4 Japan 137 works
  5. 5 Türkiye 115 works
  6. 6 Russia 93 works
  7. 7 South Korea 90 works
  8. 8 Germany 76 works
  9. 9 Italy 71 works
  10. 10 United Kingdom 63 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: 59.9%United States: 12.3%India: 8.3%Japan: 4.1%6 others listed: 15.3%60%largest
China1,991 · 59.9%United States410 · 12.3%India277 · 8.3%Japan137 · 4.1%6 others listed507 · 15.3%

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

Which institutions lead Sulfur Compounds in Biology research?

By volume in 2022-now, Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes the most Sulfur Compounds in Biology research, followed by Russian Academy of Sciences and Shanxi University.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 55 works
  2. 2 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 40 works
  3. 3 Shanxi UniversityChina 28 works
  4. 4 Henan UniversityChina 26 works
  5. 5 Sichuan UniversityChina 25 works
  6. 6 Central South UniversityChina 24 works
  7. 7 Shandong UniversityChina 23 works
  8. 8 Zhengzhou UniversityChina 22 works
  9. 9 Lanzhou UniversityChina 21 works
  10. 10 Guangxi UniversityChina 21 works

Who are the leading researchers in Sulfur Compounds in Biology?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Sulfur Compounds in Biology include Zhong Lin Wang, George Davey Smith and Walter Churchill Willett.

  1. 1 Zhong Lin Wang United States 491k citations
  2. 2 George Davey Smith United Kingdom 435k citations
  3. 3 Walter Churchill Willett United States 411k citations
  4. 4 Guido Kroemer France 386k citations
  5. 5 John J.V. McMurray United Kingdom 349k citations
  6. 6 Hermann Brenner Germany 343k citations
  7. 7 Jun Wang China 340k citations
  8. 8 George M. Whitesides United States 267k citations
  9. 9 Wei Huang China 267k citations
  10. 10 JoAnn E. Manson United States 263k 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 Sulfur Compounds in Biology?

The most cited paper in Sulfur Compounds in Biology is "Tissue sulfhydryl groups" (George L. Ellman, 1959), with 26,451 citations. Next come "Analysis of nitrate, nitrite, and [15N]nitrate in biological fluids" (12,147) and "Enzymic method for quantitative determination of nanogram amounts of total and oxidized glutathione: Applications to mammalian blood and other tissues" (6,083).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 Tissue sulfhydryl groups George L. Ellman · Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics May 1959 26,451
2 Analysis of nitrate, nitrite, and [15N]nitrate in biological fluids Laura C. Green, David A. Wagner, Joseph A. Glogowski et al. · Analytical Biochemistry Oct 1982 12,147
3 Enzymic method for quantitative determination of nanogram amounts of total and oxidized glutathione: Applications to mammalian blood and other tissues Frank Tietze · Analytical Biochemistry Mar 1969 6,083
4 Determination of glutathione and glutathione disulfide using glutathione reductase and 2-vinylpyridine Owen W. Griffith · Analytical Biochemistry Jul 1980 4,625
5 Levels of glutathione, glutathione reductase and glutathione S-transferase activities in rat lung and liver M MORON, Joseph William DePierre, Bengt Mannervik · Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - General Subjects 4 Jan 1979 4,221
All 100 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Sulfur Compounds in Biology research done?

The largest centres of Sulfur Compounds in Biology research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Shanghai (China), Nanjing (China) and Jinan (China). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Kaifeng.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 168 works
  2. 2 ShanghaiChina 120 works
  3. 3 NanjingChina 107 works
  4. 4 JinanChina 98 works
  5. 5 GuangzhouChina 71 works
  6. 6 WuhanChina 71 works
  7. 7 ChangshaChina 65 works
  8. 8 ChengduChina 52 works
  9. 9 TaiyuanChina 51 works
  10. 10 HangzhouChina 49 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. KaifengCN · 30.9 works17×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

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

See Sulfur Compounds in Biology on the map

Where is the best place to study Sulfur Compounds in Biology?

Among universities, judged by research, Henan University, Henan Normal University and Shanxi 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 15.92%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Henan Normal Univers…Shanxi UniversityNanjing Forestry Uni…Henan 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
1Henan UniversityChina 69.514.7%22.3×26 +62.9%
2Henan Normal UniversityChina 65.227.4%19.2×13 +227.8%
3Shanxi UniversityChina 63.520.6%29.4×28 -39.0%
4Nanjing Forestry UniversityChina 63.016.5%11.7×18 +535.9%
5Sichuan UniversityChina 59.512.8%3.1×25 +46.5%
6Zhengzhou UniversityChina 58.415.0%5.3×22 +16.9%
7Shandong UniversityChina 57.712.2%5.0×23 +23.5%
8Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityChina 57.317.1%2.0×21 +50.0%
9Guangxi UniversityChina 57.110.6%9.7×21 +84.2%
10Central South UniversityChina 56.412.3%3.5×24 +10.4%

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 Sulfur Compounds in Biology, country by country

Is Sulfur Compounds in Biology research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 11% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2025. The fastest-growing topics are Sulfur Compounds in Biology.

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 Sulfur Compounds in Biology as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.015% in 2024.

still counting0.020%0.040%Sulfur Compounds in Biology0.017% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Sulfur Compounds in Biology 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%Sulfur Compounds in Biology10.0% 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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