The Evolution of C-Technologies: Trends, Impact, and Future Directions

Abstract

The organization of chromosomes in three dimensions is crucial for gene regulation and genome stability. Over the years, various methods have been developed to study chromosome conformation. The advent of chromosome conformation capture (3C) and its high-throughput derivatives revolutionized genome architecture studies by enabling detailed interaction mapping at different scales. These methods, including 3C, 4C, 5C, Hi-C, and advanced techniques like ChIA-PET and Micro-C, have provided insights into chromatin organization, compartments, and topologically associating domains (TADs). This study presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of research on C-technologies from 2002 to 2021, using the Scopus database. A total of 2,587 publications were analyzed to track trends, geographical distribution, citation impact, collaborations, and technological advancements. The results indicate a steady growth in publications, with a sharp increase after 2019. Highly cited papers, published in journals like Science, Nature, and Cell, highlight key methodological developments and applications. Co-citation analysis revealed three major research clusters focused on chromosome conformation methods, computational tools, and chromatin topology. The findings underscore the growing significance of C-technologies in genomics and highlight emerging research directions in functional genomics, structural variations, and gene regulation.