Genome engineering and synthetic biology for biofuels: A bibliometric analysis.

Genome engineering and synthetic biology as an emerging interdisciplinary tool have opened a new era for energy research as well as life science. In this study, bibliometric and content analysis were conducted to clarify research characteristics and research trends in this field. Our result revealed that USA, China, UK, Germany, and France were the main contributing countries, and USA was in a leading position in international cooperation. The CRISPR-Cas9 system has been manipulated to develop microorganisms with improved characteristics and tolerance, and is at the forefront of research and practice. In addition, design and construction of synthetic microbial communities and optimization of ecological models to meet industrial demands will become the next hotspot. Meanwhile, effective process configurations that can promote commercial-scale biofuel production should also be developed. Genome engineering and synthetic biology are expected to continue playing an important role in promoting the development of sustainable energy production.