Singapore, Japan and China are among the leaders in stem cell research,
a field growing twice as fast as the average growth in research.
Stem
cell research is growing twice as fast as the world average growth in research,
according to a study of the growth and development of the field. The study also
found that Singapore and Japan have some of the highest activity in stem cell
research while China is a top contributor in terms of volume.
The
report, released at the World Stem Cell Summit, is based on a comprehensive
analysis of publications in the stem cell field which includes research on
embryonic stem (ES) cells, human embryonic stem (hES) cells and induced
pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.
In
order to provide a broad and transparent data driven view of the field, the
study reviewed leading nations’ research output, citation impact and
collaboration behavior, as well as assessing international differences in focus
and growth.
The
report combines a comprehensive publication analysis from Elsevier’s Scopus, a
scientific abstract and citation database, together with scientists’ and other
stakeholders’ views on current progress and future expectations of the field.
“This
report gives us a bird’s eye view of the international stem cell field, drawing
on advanced bibliometric techniques to identify national and international
trends – where is stem cell research strongest, where is the sector developing
fastest, are the results of individual funding initiatives translating into
high impact publications, and so on,” said Professor Clare Blackburn, the
Project Coordinator of EuroStemCell.
“It has
been extremely interesting to analyze these data, they contain a lot of
provocative information. We hope readers will gain a new understanding of the
shape of the field that will stimulate future policy discussions.”
According
to the report, Singapore, Italy, the USA, Japan, and Israel show the highest
level of activity in stem cell research while the US and China show the highest
volume.
In
addition to the finding that stem cell research is growing twice as fast (7%)
as the world average growth in research (2.9%), the study also found that area
of induced pluripotent stem cells (awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or
Medicine in 2012) has grown at an astonishing rate of 77% annually since 2008.
The
analysis also found that stem cell publications are 50% more cited than the
world average for all related subject areas and that around half of all stem
cell papers use keywords related to “drug development” or “regenerative
medicine”, reflecting the field’s clinical promise.
While
the field has attracted priority status in many countries, it has also been the
focus of continuous discussion around ethics and regulation with each nation
taking its own policy position, some of which have had a clear effect on the
dynamics of the field.
“The
challenge for the coming decade is to expand on multi-disciplinary and
multi-sector collaboration aimed at large-scale production of high-quality
human pluripotent stem cells, and also, robust and reliable production of
high-quality differentiated cells”, said Professor Norio Nakatsuji, Founding
Director of Kyoto University’s Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences
(iCeMS).
“In
order to provide adequate support to accelerate such research, a nation should
take an evidence-based approach with an understanding of the global trend from
a multitude of perspectives.”
The
report can be found at: Stem Cell Research report: Trends and Perspectives on the
Evolving International Landscape.
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