Walter Fontana

14.1k total citations · 3 hit papers
58 papers, 8.7k citations indexed

About

Walter Fontana is a scholar working on Molecular Biology, Genetics and Astronomy and Astrophysics. According to data from OpenAlex, Walter Fontana has authored 58 papers receiving a total of 8.7k indexed citations (citations by other indexed papers that have themselves been cited), including 38 papers in Molecular Biology, 13 papers in Genetics and 7 papers in Astronomy and Astrophysics. Recurrent topics in Walter Fontana's work include RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms (17 papers), Gene Regulatory Network Analysis (16 papers) and Evolution and Genetic Dynamics (11 papers). Walter Fontana is often cited by papers focused on RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms (17 papers), Gene Regulatory Network Analysis (16 papers) and Evolution and Genetic Dynamics (11 papers). Walter Fontana collaborates with scholars based in United States, Austria and United Kingdom. Walter Fontana's co-authors include Peter Schuster, Peter F. Stadler, Ivo L. Hofacker, Manfred Tacker, Leo W. Buss, Lauren W. Ancel, Eric J. Deeds, Peter Schuster, Martijn A. Huynen and Javier Apfeld and has published in prestigious journals such as Nature, Science and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In The Last Decade

Walter Fontana

57 papers receiving 8.4k citations

Hit Papers

Fast folding and comparison of RNA secondary structures 1989 2026 2001 2013 1994 1989 1994 500 1000 1.5k
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. Fast folding and comparison of RNA secondary structures
    1994 1.7k citations Ivo L. Hofacker, Walter Fontana et al. profile →
  2. The theory of evolution and dynamical systems
    1989 665 citations Walter Fontana profile →
  3. From sequences to shapes and back: a case study in RNA secondary structures
    1994 578 citations Walter Fontana, Peter F. Stadler et al. profile →

Peers

Walter Fontana
Andreas Wagner United States
Claus O. Wilke United States
John C. Gerhart United States
Kim Sneppen Denmark
Christoph Adami United States
Kunihiko Kaneko Japan
Charles Ofria United States
Paulien Hogeweg Netherlands
François Jacob France
Martijn A. Huynen Netherlands
Andreas Wagner United States
Walter Fontana
Citations per year, relative to Walter Fontana Walter Fontana (= 1×) peers Andreas Wagner

Countries citing papers authored by Walter Fontana

Since Specialization
Citations

This map shows the geographic impact of Walter Fontana'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 Walter Fontana with the expected number of citations based on a country's size and research output (numbers larger than one mean the country cites Walter Fontana more than expected).

Fields of papers citing papers by Walter Fontana

Since Specialization
Physical SciencesHealth SciencesLife SciencesSocial Sciences

This network shows the impact of papers produced by Walter Fontana. 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 Walter Fontana. The network helps show where Walter Fontana may publish in the future.

Co-authorship network of co-authors of Walter Fontana

This figure shows the co-authorship network connecting the top 25 collaborators of Walter Fontana. A scholar is included among the top collaborators of Walter Fontana 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 Walter Fontana. Walter Fontana 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.
Deng, Jie, et al.. (2023). Enzyme-Free Exponential Amplification via Growth and Scission of Crisscross Ribbons from Single-Stranded DNA Components. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 146(1). 218–227. 7 indexed citations
2.
Andersen, Jakob L., Rolf Fagerberg, Christoph Flamm, et al.. (2022). Representing Catalytic Mechanisms with Rule Composition. Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling. 62(22). 5513–5524. 2 indexed citations
3.
Fontana, Walter, et al.. (2019). Random walker's view of networks whose growth it shapes. Physical review. E. 99(6). 62306–62306. 3 indexed citations
4.
Stroustrup, Nicholas, Winston Anthony, Zachary M. Nash, et al.. (2016). The temporal scaling of Caenorhabditis elegans ageing. Nature. 530(7588). 103–107. 125 indexed citations
5.
Rowland, Michael A., Walter Fontana, & Eric J. Deeds. (2012). Crosstalk and Competition in Signaling Networks. Biophysical Journal. 103(11). 2389–2398. 49 indexed citations
6.
Deeds, Eric J., Jean Krivine, Jérôme Ferêt, Vincent Danos, & Walter Fontana. (2012). Combinatorial Complexity and Compositional Drift in Protein Interaction Networks. PLoS ONE. 7(3). e32032–e32032. 41 indexed citations
7.
Krakauer, David C., James P. Collins, Douglas H. Erwin, et al.. (2011). The challenges and scope of theoretical biology. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 276(1). 269–276. 42 indexed citations
8.
Savage, Van M., et al.. (2010). Curvature in metabolic scaling. Nature. 464(7289). 753–756. 253 indexed citations
9.
Savage, Van M., Eric J. Deeds, & Walter Fontana. (2008). Sizing Up Allometric Scaling Theory. PLoS Computational Biology. 4(9). e1000171–e1000171. 180 indexed citations
10.
Krishnamurthy, Supriya, Eric Smith, David C. Krakauer, & Walter Fontana. (2007). The stochastic behavior of a molecular switching circuit with feedback. Biology Direct. 2(1). 13–13. 15 indexed citations
11.
Fontana, Walter. (2002). Modelling ‘evo‐devo’ with RNA. BioEssays. 24(12). 1164–1177. 129 indexed citations
12.
Stadler, Bärbel M. R., Peter F. Stadler, Günter P. Wagner, & Walter Fontana. (2001). The Topology of the Possible: Formal Spaces Underlying Patterns of Evolutionary Change. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 213(2). 241–274. 190 indexed citations
13.
Ancel, Lauren W. & Walter Fontana. (2000). Plasticity, evolvability, and modularity in RNA. Journal of Experimental Zoology. 288(3). 242–283. 347 indexed citations
14.
Flamm, Christoph, Walter Fontana, Ivo L. Hofacker, & Peter Schuster. (2000). RNA folding at elementary step resolution. RNA. 6(3). 325–338. 216 indexed citations
15.
Wuchty, Stefan, Walter Fontana, Ivo L. Hofacker, & Peter Schuster. (1999). Complete suboptimal folding of RNA and the stability of secondary structures. Biopolymers. 49(2). 145–165. 407 indexed citations
16.
Fontana, Walter & Peter Schuster. (1998). Shaping Space: the Possible and the Attainable in RNA Genotype–phenotype Mapping. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 194(4). 491–515. 140 indexed citations
17.
Tacker, Manfred, Walter Fontana, Peter F. Stadler, & Peter Schuster. (1994). Statistics of RNA melting kinetics. European Biophysics Journal. 23(1). 29–38. 39 indexed citations
18.
Fontana, Walter & Leo W. Buss. (1994). “The arrival of the fittest”: Toward a theory of biological organization. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology. 56(1). 1–64. 53 indexed citations
19.
Fontana, Walter, Danielle Konings, Peter F. Stadler, & Peter Schuster. (1993). Statistics of RNA secondary structures. Biopolymers. 33(9). 1389–1404. 223 indexed citations
20.
Fontana, Walter, Wolfgang Schnabl, & Peter Schuster. (1989). Physical aspects of evolutionary optimization and adaptation. Physical review. A, General physics. 40(6). 3301–3321. 71 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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