The Molecular Biology & Genetics field includes journals that cover the following topics within basic and applied genetics, as well as topics involving cellular function in eukaryotic systems:

• biochemistry
• molecular biology
• biophysics
• pharmacology
• receptor biology
• signal transduction
• regulation of gene expression
• developmental genetics and biology
• morphogenesis
• cell-environment interactions
• molecular genetics
• mechanisms of mutagenesis
• structure, function and regulation of genetic material
• clinical genetics, patterns of inheritance, genetic causes, and screening and treatment of diseases

The top 20 institutions are a representation of academic and governmental institutions from the United States, Europe, and Asia. The international cooperative effort in various genome research projects is evident in the presence of several heavily cited reports on the genome sequence of Drosophila melanogaster, as well as the initial sequences of the mouse genome and the human genome.

Harvard University tops the list, with 7,689 papers cited a total of 416,927 times to date—over 230,000 more citations than the second institution. The university’s most-cited papers in this field cover a wide variety of topics, including tumorigenesis, apoptosis, chemokine receptors, cell survival, angiogenesis, and AKT phosphorylation.

In the #2 slot is the University of Texas system, with 5,044 papers cited a total of 186,889 times to date. Among the topics covered by the University of Texas in this field are cytochrome C, heterodimers, protein kinase pathways, and nuclear receptor superfamilies. One other Texas institution is in the top 20: Baylor College of Medicine (#13).

The University of California, San Francisco ranks at #3, with 3,185 papers cited a total of 168,901 times to date, and is the first of four California-based institutions on this list. Research into nitric oxide synthase, estrogen receptors, MAP kinases, β-catenin, transcription factors, and cell motility and locomotion are the subjects of UCSF’s highly cited papers in this field.

At #4 is Germany’s Max Planck Society, with 4,385 papers cited a total of 154,371 times to date. The Society’s most-cited papers in Molecular Biology & Genetics are dominated by genome sequencing studies, the HD-gene’s role in neurological dysfunction, RNA interference, β-catenin, and signal transduction.

Rounding out the top five is the second California institution on the list, Stanford University, with 2,758 papers cited a total of 144,164 times to date. Stanford’s focus in this field includes several genome studies, cell-cycle regulation, gene expression patterns in cancer cell lines, and developmental pathways. The other California-based institutions in the top 20 are the University of California, San Diego (#8) and the University of California, Berkeley (#14).

Other European institutions in the top 20 include the European Molecular Biology Lab, which ranks at #17 with 1,586 papers cited a total of 96,463 times to date, the University of Cambridge, which ranks at #18 with 2,528 papers cited a total of 91,360 times to date, and the University of Oxford, which ranks at #20 with 2,111 papers cited a total of 83,144 times to date. Representing Asia is the University of Tokyo at #19, with 3,474 papers cited a total of 86,127 times to date.

The top 20 institutions in Molecular Biology & Genetics are listed in full in the table below: