Lineage-tracing technology for decoding cell evolution in pathophysiology: a bibliometric analysis

Lineage-tracing technology has become a pivotal tool in life sciences. This article comprehensively reviews the current status, hotspots, and trends in this field. A total of 3252 relevant articles, published from 1 January 1979 to 22 September 2024, were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection. We utilized VOSviewer for co-authorship networks, CiteSpace for keyword/reference analysis, Bibliometrix for bibliometric indicators and theme evolution, and Pajek for layout optimization. Research has been conducted in 70 countries/regions, involving 2434 institutions and 18 906 researchers, with the United States and China being the two most prolific countries in terms of publications. Key findings reveal a significant growth in publications over the past decade, reflecting the increasing utility of lineage tracing across disciplines such as developmental biology, regenerative medicine, and cancer research. In addition, the bibliometric analysis uncovered the trajectory of lineage-tracing technology in terms of persistence, specificity, and spatial and temporal resolution of cell labeling methods. In the future, we should welcome the integration of spatial transcriptomics technologies to further improve the spatial and temporal resolution of lineage-tracing technology. Taken together, this work identifies key research frontiers and bridges a significant gap in current literature by providing researchers and clinicians with a systematic knowledge framework for understanding the evolution and application of lineage-tracing technologies. As the first bibliometric synthesis integrating quantitative mapping with technological evolution analysis, this study overcomes the limitations of narrative reviews through data-driven decision-making, algorithmic processing, standardized analytical tools, and multidimensional metric cross-validation.