Scientometric Analysis of the Combined Application of Molecular Docking Technique and CRISPR Genome Editing Technology

Molecular Docking (MD), a computational technique that examines the conformation and orientation of molecules (mainly ligands) into the binding site of a protein target, has emerged as a pivotal strategy for modeling biomolecular interactions. It has significantly contributed to the advancement of Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) genome editing technologies. Despite the impact of these technologies on drug development, medicine, and other applied fields, a comprehensive scientometric analysis of the integration of MD and CRISPR genome editing iscurrently lacking in the literature. Based on 5165 publications sourced from the Web of Science Core Collection (2005–2024), this study implemented a scientometric analysis to chart the development trajectory and collaborative landscape of CRISPR-MD research. To achieve this, we employed longitudinal bibliometric techniques to track the thematic evolution through keywords and to analyze the structure of co-authorship and institutional collaboration networks over time. The analysis reveals remarkable growth in publications over the past two decades, marking the transition of CRISPR-MD from an emerging technique to a prominent research frontier. The evolution of keywords and collaboration networks delineates the field’s expanding scope and intensifying interdisciplinary integration. This study provides critical insights into the convergence of computational biology and genome engineering. The findings highlight the maturation of CRISPR-MD research and underscore its future potential in driving innovation for precision medicine and other interdisciplinary applications.