“A data-driven study on the rising popularity of the genetic research and various related topics in 2023.”
Genetics as a “field” gaining popularity year by year. Keywords like genomics, DNA and chromosomes become more familiar while techniques like PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) and sequencing get more attention after COVID.
2023 is just finished and we are in 2024. I and my team are thinking– why not check the trends in genetics? Like- what terms are popular, what disciplines have more research and which technique is gaining more and more research exposure.
However, it’s hard to determine the trends in Google Search. And that’s also difficult, because if someone is searching ‘DNA’ that doesn’t mean that they actually want some information on deoxyribose nucleic acid, Right?
Doing hours of brainstorming for a couple of days, we find a way to actually publish a data-driven study on trends in genetics.
That’s using a Google Scholar.
Related article: 10 Hot Topics in Genetic Research/Studies for 2024.
Key Topics:
Research Methodology
We used Google Scholar- which is a place for scholarly articles instead of a Google search engine. Thus, we could find out the results that are only discussing a specific topic in genetics and we will get the idea about the number of publications.
So we opened Google Scholar and from the sidebar we set a custom range between 2023 to 2023, as we aim to study the trends in genetics, only for 2023.
We selected 20 different keywords to test the trends and number of papers published in 2023. And grouped them.
First, we searched common genetic keywords like- DNA, chromosomes, gene, and gene therapy. Then, we searched for more related keywords like- genetics, genomics, epigenetics, mitochondrial DNA, CRISPR Cas9, genetic disorders, gene expression, metagenomics and cancer genetics.
Lastly, we searched keywords related to genetic techniques like- sequencing, DNA sequencing, genome sequencing, PCR, rt-PCR, DNA methylation, and ancient DNA etc.
The inclusion criteria for the study include counting the research articles that contain the keyword with an exact match while the exclusion criteria are only to avoid the Google search results.
The results are obtained from the section that shows the ‘about results’ at the top. This shows the number of papers published or submitted to Google Scholar in 2023 and depicts the correct trends.
Here are the results.
Category 1: General Keywords
| DNA | 1,76,000 |
| Gene | 2,35,000 |
| Chromosome | 80,000 |
| Gene therapy | 1,59,000 |
Category 2: More specific keywords
| Genetics | 1,59,000 |
| Epigenetics | 63,600 |
| Genomics | 1,65,000 |
| Mitochondrial DNA | 84,200 |
| CRISPR-CAS9 | 55,500 |
| Genetic disorders | 1,35,000 |
| Metagenomics | 32,800 |
| Gene expression | 2,05,000 |
| Cancer genetics | 1,31,000 |
Category 3: Technique-specific keywords
| PCR | 95,700 |
| rt-PCR | 90,700 |
| Sequencing | 1,37,000 |
| DNA sequencing | 1,29,000 |
| Genome sequencing | 1,52,000 |
| DNA Methylation | 64,300 |
| Ancient DNA | 32,500 |
Results:
Now, what do the results tell us?
Analysis of all three categories of keywords showed that in 2023 the most researched general keywords (from category 1) are ‘gene’ and ‘DNA’ with the number of published articles 2,35,000 and and 1,76,000, respectively.
Now in the second category, shockingly! The most researched topic is ‘gene expression.’ The number of published articles having the keyword ‘gene expression’ is 2,05,000. In the same category, 1,65,000 published articles have the keyword ‘Genomics.’
In the third category, the keyword ‘genome sequencing’ contains the highest number of published articles which is 1,52,000, followed by the keyword ‘sequencing.’
Notedly, the keyword ‘cancer genomics’ has substantially amazing publishing trends with 1,31,000 results. However, the keywords ‘epigenetics’ and ‘metagenomics’ have the least published articles in this study (63,600 and 32,800, respectively).
Outcomes:
The current small study, based on data, suggests that among genetic researchers, the topic of gene expression is really popular, along with genome sequencing. This means that a lot of research articles on Google Scholar are about these two things. It shows that more and more scientists are studying how genes work and using techniques like genome sequencing.
Interestingly, the study also found that the use of PCR and similar techniques is decreasing in popularity, while sequencing and similar methods are becoming more popular in 2023. This shift indicates that researchers are moving away from using a specific technology called PCR and are now more interested in sequencing DNA.
Additionally, the study revealed that there isn’t much significant research growth in the areas of gene therapy and CRISPR-Cas9 in 2023. In other words, these specific fields didn’t see a big increase in research activity during that year.
Related article: Groundbreaking Discoveries in the Field of Genetics in 2023.
Wrapping up:
In conclusion, the field of genetics is becoming increasingly popular each year, especially in research areas such as gene expression, genomics, and cancer genetics. However, it’s important to note that more in-depth and comparative studies are needed to validate these trends.
The findings from this current study can be valuable for researchers and aspiring scientists looking to select their research focus in 2024. I hope this article is clear and helpful. Please feel free to share it and bookmark the page for future reference.
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