Alfred Gierer

10.4k total citations · 4 hit papers
80 papers, 7.8k citations indexed

About

Alfred Gierer is a scholar working on Molecular Biology, Plant Science and Paleontology. According to data from OpenAlex, Alfred Gierer has authored 80 papers receiving a total of 7.8k indexed citations (citations by other indexed papers that have themselves been cited), including 37 papers in Molecular Biology, 18 papers in Plant Science and 11 papers in Paleontology. Recurrent topics in Alfred Gierer's work include Marine Invertebrate Physiology and Ecology (11 papers), Plant Virus Research Studies (10 papers) and Origins and Evolution of Life (8 papers). Alfred Gierer is often cited by papers focused on Marine Invertebrate Physiology and Ecology (11 papers), Plant Virus Research Studies (10 papers) and Origins and Evolution of Life (8 papers). Alfred Gierer collaborates with scholars based in Germany and United States. Alfred Gierer's co-authors include Hans Meinhardt, Gerhard Schramm, K. Wirtz, Charles N. David, Friedrich Bonhoeffer, Ekkhart Trenkner, Stefan Berking, Karl-Wolfgang Mundry, Hubert Schaller and Hans R. Bode and has published in prestigious journals such as Nature, Journal of Molecular Biology and Development.

In The Last Decade

Alfred Gierer

77 papers receiving 7.2k citations

Hit Papers

A theory of biological pattern formation 1953 2026 1977 2001 1972 1956 1953 1974 500 1000 1.5k 2.0k
What are hit papers?

Hit papers significantly outperform the citation benchmark for their cohort. A paper qualifies if it has ≥500 total citations, achieves ≥1.5× the top-1% citation threshold for papers in the same subfield and year (this is the minimum needed to enter the top 1%, not the average within it), or reaches the top citation threshold in at least one of its specific research topics.

  1. A theory of biological pattern formation
    1972 2.2k citations Alfred Gierer, Hans Meinhardt Kybernetik profile →
  2. Infectivity of Ribonucleic Acid from Tobacco Mosaic Virus
    1956 650 citations Alfred Gierer et al. Nature profile →
  3. Molekulare Theorie der Mikroreibung
    1953 461 citations Alfred Gierer et al. profile →
  4. Applications of a theory of biological pattern formation based on lateral inhibition
    1974 346 citations Hans Meinhardt, Alfred Gierer Journal of Cell Science profile →

Peers — A (Enhanced Table)

Peers by citation overlap · career bar shows stage (early→late) cites · hero ref

Name h Career Trend Papers Cites
Alfred Gierer Germany 36 3.9k 1.4k 1.2k 1.2k 1.1k 80 7.8k
Hans Meinhardt Germany 42 4.6k 1.2× 2.5k 1.8× 1.4k 1.2× 838 0.7× 1.8k 1.6× 78 9.2k
William F. Loomis United States 65 7.6k 1.9× 136 0.1× 1.1k 0.9× 683 0.6× 7.9k 7.3× 256 14.3k
Julian Lewis United Kingdom 53 11.7k 3.0× 256 0.2× 836 0.7× 128 0.1× 3.1k 2.9× 167 16.8k
Raymond E. Goldstein United States 68 2.8k 0.7× 1.5k 1.1× 334 0.3× 94 0.1× 1.4k 1.2× 222 15.5k
Hans G. Othmer United States 47 4.0k 1.0× 1.2k 0.9× 257 0.2× 49 0.0× 1.9k 1.7× 139 8.2k
Boris I. Shraiman United States 61 3.1k 0.8× 1.0k 0.7× 347 0.3× 38 0.0× 1.5k 1.3× 120 16.6k
Daniel S. Rokhsar United States 64 10.6k 2.7× 110 0.1× 6.6k 5.4× 1.3k 1.1× 863 0.8× 160 22.3k
Albert Goldbeter Belgium 57 8.0k 2.0× 2.4k 1.8× 2.1k 1.7× 25 0.0× 1.5k 1.4× 180 12.6k
Jonathon Howard United States 79 10.5k 2.7× 389 0.3× 1.5k 1.2× 90 0.1× 12.4k 11.3× 227 22.6k
Paulien Hogeweg Netherlands 40 3.0k 0.8× 309 0.2× 1.4k 1.1× 33 0.0× 413 0.4× 144 6.0k

Countries citing papers authored by Alfred Gierer

Since Specialization
Citations

This map shows the geographic impact of Alfred Gierer's research. It shows the number of citations coming from papers published by authors working in each country. You can also color the map by specialization and compare the number of citations received by Alfred Gierer with the expected number of citations based on a country's size and research output (numbers larger than one mean the country cites Alfred Gierer more than expected).

Fields of papers citing papers by Alfred Gierer

Since Specialization
Physical SciencesHealth SciencesLife SciencesSocial Sciences

This network shows the impact of papers produced by Alfred Gierer. Nodes represent research fields, and links connect fields that are likely to share authors. Colored nodes show fields that tend to cite the papers produced by Alfred Gierer. The network helps show where Alfred Gierer may publish in the future.

Co-authorship network of co-authors of Alfred Gierer

This figure shows the co-authorship network connecting the top 25 collaborators of Alfred Gierer. A scholar is included among the top collaborators of Alfred Gierer based on the total number of citations received by their joint publications. Widths of edges represent the number of papers authors have co-authored together. Node borders signify the number of papers an author published with Alfred Gierer. Alfred Gierer is excluded from the visualization to improve readability, since they are connected to all nodes in the network.

All Works

20 of 20 papers shown
1.
Gierer, Alfred. (2012). The Hydra model - a model for what?. The International Journal of Developmental Biology. 56(6-7-8). 437–445. 22 indexed citations
2.
Gierer, Alfred. (2004). Human brain evolution, theories of innovation, and lessons from the history of technology. Journal of Biosciences. 29(3). 235–244. 2 indexed citations
3.
Gierer, Alfred. (2002). Theoretical approaches to holistic biological features: Pattern formation, neural networks and the brain-mind relation. Journal of Biosciences. 27(3). 195–205. 3 indexed citations
4.
Meinhardt, Hans & Alfred Gierer. (2000). Pattern formation by local self-activation and lateral inhibition. BioEssays. 22(8). 753–760. 464 indexed citations
5.
Gierer, Alfred. (1998). Innovationstheorie und die Evolution menschlicher Fähigkeiten: Beispiel Empathie. PhilPapers (PhilPapers Foundation). 1 indexed citations
6.
Gierer, Alfred. (1998). Possible involvement of gradients in guidance of receptor cell axons towards their target position on the olfactory bulb. European Journal of Neuroscience. 10(1). 388–391. 16 indexed citations
7.
Gierer, Alfred. (1988). Spatial organization and genetic information in brain development. Biological Cybernetics. 59(1). 13–21. 17 indexed citations
8.
Gierer, Alfred. (1983). Model for the retino-tectal projection. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences. 218(1210). 77–93. 71 indexed citations
9.
Liu, Li, Paul G. Layer, & Alfred Gierer. (1983). Binding of FITC-coupled peanut-agglutinin (FITC-PNA) to embryonic chicken retinas reveals developmental spatio-temporal patterns. Developmental Brain Research. 8(2-3). 223–229. 42 indexed citations
10.
Gierer, Alfred. (1981). Socioeconomic Inequalities: Effects of Self-Enhancement, Depletion and Redistribution. Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik. 196(4). 2 indexed citations
11.
Gierer, Alfred. (1981). Generation of biological patterns and form: Some physical, mathematical, and logical aspects. Progress in Biophysics and Molecular Biology. 37(1). 1–47. 118 indexed citations
12.
Graf, Lynn & Alfred Gierer. (1980). Size, shape and orientation of cells in budding hydra and regulation of regeneration in cell aggregates. Development Genes and Evolution. 188(2). 141–151. 43 indexed citations
13.
Burt, Richard L. & Alfred Gierer. (1979). Age specific cell sorting within aggregates of chick neural retina cells. Development Genes and Evolution. 187(4). 367–373. 9 indexed citations
14.
Gierer, Alfred. (1977). Chapter 2 Biological Features and Physical Concepts of Pattern Formation Exemplified By Hydra. Current topics in developmental biology. 11. 17–59. 56 indexed citations
15.
David, Charles N. & Alfred Gierer. (1974). Cell cycle kinetics and development of Hydra attenuata: III. nerve and nematocyte differentiation. Journal of Cell Science. 16(2). 359–375. 205 indexed citations
16.
Bode, Hans R., Stefan Berking, Charles N. David, et al.. (1973). Quantitative analysis of cell types during growth and morphogenesis in Hydra. Development Genes and Evolution. 171(4). 269–285. 202 indexed citations
17.
Gierer, Alfred & Hans Meinhardt. (1972). A theory of biological pattern formation. Kybernetik. 12(1). 30–39. 2224 indexed citations breakdown →
18.
Gierer, Alfred, et al.. (1968). Synthesis of ribosomal proteins and formation of ribosomes in Escherichia coli. Journal of Molecular Biology. 34(2). 293–303. 27 indexed citations
19.
Gierer, Alfred. (1966). Model for DNA and Protein Interactions and the Function of the Operator. Nature. 212(5069). 1480–1481. 152 indexed citations
20.
Gierer, Alfred, et al.. (1953). Molekulare Theorie der Mikroreibung - Molecular theory of microfriction. PhilPapers (PhilPapers Foundation). 5 indexed citations

Rankless uses publication and citation data sourced from OpenAlex, an open and comprehensive bibliographic database. While OpenAlex provides broad and valuable coverage of the global research landscape, it—like all bibliographic datasets—has inherent limitations. These include incomplete records, variations in author disambiguation, differences in journal indexing, and delays in data updates. As a result, some metrics and network relationships displayed in Rankless may not fully capture the entirety of a scholar's output or impact.

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