Hot Research: Emphasis Shifts From Genetics To Cell Biology

Date: June 21, 1999Scientists Ranked by Number of Hot Papers and The Red Hot Research Papers of 1998 Editor's Note: Readers often tell us that their favorite element of The Scientist is the Hot Papers page. Here, scientists themselves get a chance to delve into what made the research paper to which they contributed significant enough to be cited in a large number of other papers over the past two years. In this issue, we have expanded the traditional Hot Papers page to four pages. We also have added, courtesy of Science Watch, a report and charts on more recently published research and on the scientists who were most cited in 1998. (Adapted with permission from Science Watch, 10[2]:1, March/April 1999) Every year, Science Watch, published by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) in Philadelphia, publishes an article on the most-cited recent research and researchers. In last year's report,1 genetics and genomics dominated the top spots. This year, cell biology captured the most interest. Among the hot scientists in 1998, John C. Reed of the Burnham Institute in La Jolla, Calif., vaulted from the last spot in the 1997 elite to the top. Over the last two years, Reed has fielded nine highly cited reports on cytochrome c, Bcl-2, and other aspects of apoptosis, or programmed cell death. Among the coauthors on one of those papers is Reed's Burnham Institute colleague, Guy S. Salvesen, who earned a spot on the list by virtue of his four additional hot reports on caspases, a protein family involved in apoptosis. A name new to Science Watch takes the number-two spot: Hans-Joachim Gabius of the University of Munich. Gabius appears on eight hot papers on the cell-agglutinating proteins known as lectins. Among other topics, Gabius' papers discuss the use of lectins for research into protein-carbohydrate interaction, tumor formation, and drug design. The number-three spot, meanwhile, returns two familiar names: Bert Vogelstein, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigator, and his colleague at Johns Hopkins University, Kenneth W. Kinzler. Vogelstein and Kinzler are among the coauthors on seven hot papers on the p53 tumor-suppressor gene and other aspects of cancer in general and colorectal cancer in particular. Both researchers were featured in Science Watch's year-end summaries for 1993, 1994, and 1995 (with Vogelstein topping the rankings each time), but this marks their first appearance in two years. In the number-four position are two scientists returning from last year's roundup. J. Craig Venter of The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR), in Rockville, Md., has coauthored six highly cited reports presenting complete genomic sequences or describing techniques for sequencing. Joining Venter on the list are coauthors of five of those papers: TIGR colleagues Mark D. Adams and Granger G. Sutton, along with 1978 Nobel laureate Hamilton O. Smith of Johns Hopkins. The scientist who topped last year's list, Ronald M. Evans, an HHMI researcher based at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, Calif., returns with six highly cited reports. These include papers on peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-gamma), investigating its role in diabetes. Evans' Salk colleague Laszlo Nagy contributed to five of the hot reports. PPAR receptors are also among the topics investigated by Christopher K. Glass of the University of California, San Diego, in his five hot papers. Other researchers who fielded five hot papers include Xiaodong Wang of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. Investigations of HIV and antiretroviral therapy bring Douglas D. Richman of UC-San Diego and Harvard University's Scott M. Hammer to the list. The hot papers by HHMI's Richard A. Flavell of Yale University examine apoptosis, interleukins, and autoimmune diabetes. Rounding out the list are two sets of coauthors: Gillian P. Bates of Guys Hospital and Stephen W. Davies of University College London, who examine gene mutations in Huntington's disease; and Sharon L. Rogers and Lawrence T. Friedhoff of Eisai Inc., Teaneck, N.J., who report on the anti-Alzheimer's agent donepezil. One of their 1998 papers ranked 11th for the year and is currently among medicine's most cited. Scientists Ranked by Number of Hot Papers and The Red Hot Research Papers of 1998 "Highly Cited Researchers of 1997," The Scientist, 12[16]:10, Aug. 17, 1998.

Hot Research: Emphasis Shifts From Genetics To Cell Biology

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