Top Ten Lists: Research from the Embryology Department

Citation statistics are one, albeit imperfect, way to judge the research output of a given institution. A Web of Science search for papers containing the Carnegie Institution of Washington Department of Embryology in the address field turns up more than 800 papers since 1980.

Wistar Institute, a larger private institution similarly placed on the campus of a major research university (The University of Pennsylvania) has 35 research groups (as opposed to about 9 at Carnegie). A search for papers from that institution turns up 5,400 since 1980.

The Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole similarly has a larger number of research groups...

As far as citations go, the Wistar papers published in this time frame have been cited 242,762 times, pegging the average citations per paper at 45. Papers from MBL were cited on average 27 times. The Carnegie papers in this time frame have been cited 74,306 times, meaning that each paper was cited 88 times on average.

Find a list of the Top Ten Highly Cited Papers from Carnegie here
Find a list of high impact papers from Carnegie scientists selected by the embryology department director Allan Spradling here, with commentary.

Top Ten Highly Cited Papers (including reviews) from Carnegie Institution of Washington Embryology Department
Search Criteria: "Carnegie Inst Same Embryol"

1. A. Fire et al., "Potent and specific genetic interference by double-stranded RNA in Caenorhabditis elegans," Nature, 391: 806-11, 1998. (Cited in 2610 papers) [PUBMED]

2. W.H. Landschulz et al., "The leucine zipper - A hypothetical structure common to a new class of DNA-binding proteins,"
Science, 240: 1759-64, 1988. (Cited in 2590 papers) [PUBMED]

3. M.D. Adams et al., "The genome sequence of Drosophila melanogaster,"
Science,287: 2185-95, 2000. (Cited in 2278 papers) [PUBMED]

4. G.M. Rubin, A.C. Spradling, "Genetic-transformation of drosophila with transposable element vectors," Science, 218: 348-53 1982. (Cited in 1989 papers) [PUBMED]

5. A.C. Spradling G.M. Rubin, Transposition of cloned P elements into Drosophila germ line chromosomes," Science, 218: 341-7, 1982. (Cited in 1125 papers)

6. P.F. Johnson, SL McKnight, "Eukaryotic transcriptional regulatory proteins," Annual Rev. of Biochem., 58:799-839, 1989. (Cited in 1110 papers) [PUBMED]

7. Z.D. Cao et al., "Regulated expression of 3 C/EBP isoforms during adipose conversion of 3T3-L1 cells," Genes & Devel., 5: 1538-1552, 1991. (Cited in 968 papers) [PUBMED]

8. W.H. Landschulz, et al., "Isolation of a recombinant copy of the gene encoding C/EBP," Genes & Devel., 2: 786-800, 1988. (Cited 827) [PUBMED]

9. D.K. Struck et al., "Use of resonance energy-transfer to monitor membrane-fusion," Biochem., 20: 4093-4099, 1981. (Cited in 820 papers) [PUBMED]

10. C.R. Vinson et al., "Scissors-grip model for DNA recognition by a family of leucine zipper proteins," Science, 246: 911-916, 1989. (Cited by 765 papers) [PUBMED]

High impact papers (1980-2001) chosen by the department director, Alan Spradling.

1. S. Sakonju et al., "A control region in the center of the 5S RNA gene directs specific initiation of transcription: I. The 5' border of the region," Cell 19: 13-25, 1980. [PUBMED]

This paper (and its companion) presented the first mapping of a control region for any eukaryotic gene. Within the next year the Brown lab also described the first eukaryotic transcription factor (it bound to this control region) which was soon shown to be the first known zinc finger protein.

2. G.M. Rubin, A.C. Spradling, "Genetic-transformation of Drosophila with transposable element vectors," Science, 218: 348-353, 1982. (Cited in 569 papers) [PUBMED]

This paper (and its companion) described the first successful gene therapy in any multicellular organism.

3. W.H. Landschulz et al., "The leucine zipper?a hypothetical structure common to a new class of DNA-binding proteins," Science, 240: 1759-1764, 1988. (Cited in 2590 papers) [PUBMED]

Defined a new class to DNA-binding protein with important functions in all organisms. By the early 90?s Staff Member Steve McKnight?s many contributiosn tounderstanding transcriptional regulation made him one of the most highly cited biomedical scientists.

4. L. Cooley et al., "Insertional Mutagenesis of the Drosophila Genome with Single P Elements," Science 239: 1121-1128, 1988. (Cited in 356 papers) [PUBMED]

Established a method of mutagenesis and gene manipulation that revolutionized Drosophila genetics. In the last several years efficient single element insertional mutagenesis has been extended to mouse genetics where it is supplementing "gene knockouts" by homologous recombination.

5. A.V. Strunnikov et al., "SMC1: an essential yeast gene encoding a putative head-rod-tail protein is required for nuclear division and defines a new ubiquitous protein family," Journ. Cell Biol., 123:1635-48, 1993. [PUBMED]

Defined a new family of proteins, the SMC proteins, that play critical roles in chromosone folding and mitotic segregation. One of a series of papers from the Koshland lab that helped establish yeast as a preeminent model system for chromosome research. (Before, everyone thought yeast chromosomes were very different than those of multicellular organisms.)

6. A. Fire et al. "Potent and specific genetic interference by double-stranded RNA in Caenorhabditis elegans," Nature, 391: 806-811, 1998. (Cited in 2610 papers) [PUBMED]

The key paper defining RNAi. This paper won the 2006 Nobel Prize.

7. J.G. Gall et al., "Assembly of the nuclear transcription and processing machinery: Cajal bodies (coiled bodies) and transcriptosomes," Mol. Bio. of the Cell, 10: 4385-4402, 1999. (Cited in 143 papers) [PUBMED]

A paper culminating work from the Gall lab establishing that cells contain a previously unrecognized cellular organelle. The paper also gives it its official name: the Cajal body.

8. T. Xie and A.C. Spradling, "A niche maintaining germ line stem cells in the Drosophila ovary," Science 290: 328-330, 2000. (Cited in 128 papers) [PUBMED]

The first demonstration of a normal stem cell niche in any organism. This system remains an important paradigm for the adult stem cell field.

9. J.O. Liang et al., "Asymmetric Nodal signaling in the zebrafish diencephalon positions the pineal organ," Development, 127: 5101-5112, 2000. (Cited in 46 papers) [PUBMED]

Discovery of a signaling pathway involved in left-right brain asymmetry. Established zebrafish as an important model for studies of asymmetric brain development.

10. A. Wilde et al., "Ran stimulates spindle assembly by altering microtubule dynamics and the balance of motor activities," Nat. Cell Bio. 3: 221-227, 2001. (Cited in 81 papers) [PUBMED]

Helped change the way mitosis is viewed, relating it much more closely to the way the nucleus and cytoplasm interact during the rest of the cell cycle.

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