The Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has resulted in millions of confirmed cases and fatalities worldwide (Safiabadi et al., 2021; Zhong and Lin, 2022) and has led to a global crisis that has elevated to the status of a public health emergency global concern (Mughees et al., 2021). The most common clinical symptoms of COVID-19 disease are respiratory symptoms, such as dry cough, fever, and shortness of breath. Some patients also experience other symptoms, including abdominal pain and diarrhea, neurological damage, headache, myalgia, and fatigue (Chen et al., 2020). A recent study of 401 cases (aged 51-81 years) who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection found greater reductions in overall brain volume and greater cognitive deterioration between time points (Douaud et al., 2022). Antiviral drugs currently commonly used to treat ribavirin (nucleoside analogs), lopinavir/ritonavir (protease inhibitors), remdesivir and favipiravir may be potentially effective in the treatment of COVID-19, including IL-6 monoclonal antibodies, tyrosine-protein kinase 1/2 inhibitors, cell therapy drugs, etc (Savarino et al., 2006; Yan et al., 2013; Nie and He, 2020; Seyed et al., 2020).

The genomic study of the new coronary pneumonia epidemic has gained attention due to potential mutations in the internal gene sequences of the SARS-CoV-2 since the Human Genome Project’s completion and the advent of bioinformatics technology. The knowledge based on the impact of SARS-CoV-2 spike mutations on antigenicity and other aspects of viral biology is rapidly expanding, and the integration of gene sequences has the potential to facilitate potentially interesting variants (Harvey et al., 2021). Global genomics-based monitoring of new variants of COVID-19 will continue to be a key component in collecting and making available online information on all SARS CoV-2 lineages, enabling rapid assessment of their influence on transmission, virulence, and vaccine escape (Knyazev et al., 2022). Understanding the structural and functional characteristics of SARS CoV-2 protein is crucial to promote the development of anti-CoV drugs and vaccines that could prevent and control the current SARS CoV-2 pandemic (Bai et al., 2022). Sali Abubaker Bagabir et al. used artificial intelligence technology (AI) to open the door to the genome sequence of the COVID-19 virus and variants of concern (VOC), and found that spike protein was the gene with the most genes among genes for vaccine discovery (Abubaker et al., 2022).

Bibliometric analysis is a popular method for analyzing large amounts of scientific data. It discovers knowledge associations between documents by filtering and processing large amounts of information and is used in various applications such as biomedicine, economic management, information science, renewable energy, and the environment (Yu et al., 2018; Hassan et al., 2021; Zhang et al., 2022). The use of bibliometric theories and methods to scientifically analyze specific journals is one of the important topics of bibliometrics (Zhang and Lin, 2022), which provides a comprehensive perspective for conducting research and is of great significance for scholars to grasp the hot spots in this field promptly (Chen et al., 2022). CiteSpace is designed by Professor Chen for quantitative information acquisition and visualization in specific fields and is considered to be one of the most influential software in the field of bibliometrics and information visualization (Lin et al., 2021; Shen et al., 2022).

This study used CiteSpace software (version 5.6. R3) to visualize and analyze the pertinent literature on novel coronavirus pneumonia genomics published in the WOSCC Database from 2019 to 2022, and to summarize the research status and hot frontiers of COVID-19 in the field of genomics, which provides reference and ideas for the development of COVID-19 genomics targeted laboratory characterization studies and the updating of antigen variant vaccines.

The literature data collected in the manuscript is from the WOSCC, while CiteSpace software uses information from WOSCC and other database networks (Gao et al., 2019). At present, the commonly used bibliometric software includes VOSViewer, CiteSpace, SCI2, NetDraw and HistCite (Shi et al., 2022). CiteSpace, a bibliometric tool developed by Professor Chen Chaomei, is a popular information visualization method in the field of knowledge mapping (Chen et al., 2012). It is good at exploring cooperation, key points, internal structure, potential trends and dynamics in a certain field (Yu et al., 2020; Zhang et al., 2021). It can be seen that bibliometric software has its unique advantages, and citespace software is relatively complete. Therefore, we use CiteSpace (version 5.6. R3) to analyze and visualize the countries, institutions, authors, journals, co-citations, keywords, etc.

The results of the annual publications in this study show a significant overall upward trend in COVID-19. 2019 is the outbreak period of new coronary pneumonia with a relatively small number of publications; 2020 will see 2431 publications, which is in a period of rapid growth; 5852 papers will be published in 2021, which will continue to grow significantly; and 848 papers will be published before March 2022. The upward trend in the number of articles indicates that the genomics research of COVID-19 has become one of the hottest research fields in the past 3 years. The United States and China are countries with a large number of publications, but the level of cooperation between countries is not high. The research institutions are mainly American and Chinese, and the institution with the most publications is the Chinese Acad Sci.

YANG LIU is the author with the largest number of papers and has conducted in-depth research on COVID-19 involving the inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine BBIBP-CorV (Sinopharm), which is a Chinese vaccine approved for entry by TGA and was found to be tolerable and immunogenic in healthy people through a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 1/2 clinical trial (Xia et al., 2021). Their team established a China COVID-19 Single Cell Consortium (SC4), and large RNA-seq datasets covering different disease severities and stages revealed multiple immune signatures of COVID-19 (Ren et al., 2021). D614G in the USA-WA1/2020 strain enhances replication in human lung epithelial cells and primary airway tissue by enhancing viral particle infectivity and D614G mutation enhances viral load in the upper respiratory tract of COVID-19 patients and may increase transmission. Peter Libby is the most cited author. In addition, Christian Weber is the author of numerous publications and citations (Plante et al., 2021). Zhou P is the most cited author and summarizes the basic biology of SARS-CoV-2, including genetic features, potential zoonotic origin, and its receptor binding and clinical and epidemiological features, diagnosis, and countermeasures of COVID-19 (Hu et al., 2021). They also introduce the protein structure of SARS-CoV-2 and structure-based therapeutic development, including antibodies, antiviral compounds, and vaccines, and point out the limitations and prospects of SARS-CoV-2 research (Wang et al., 2020). In the three years after the outbreak of new coronary heart disease, Chinese people made the greatest contribution to the genomics research of new coronary heart disease, focusing on the research and development of a new coronary heart disease vaccine.

The top 10 most cited journals have high impact factors, with NEW ENGL J MED having the highest impact factor of 90.333, indicating that research in the field of COVID-19 genomics has a high international impact and that the concentration of disciplines of COVID-19 genomics-related journals has shifted from molecular, biology, immunology, medicine, pharmacy, clinical and other disciplines to molecular, biology, genetics and other disciplines.

The results of the analysis of keywords show that the research hotspots in the field of COVID-19. Genomics mainly focus on covid 19, sars-cov-2, protein, RNA, angiotensin-converting enzyme II (ACE2), replication, vaccine, expression, spike protein, transmission and so on. Originally dedicated to determining the sequence of nucleotides on a given stretch of DNA, “genomics” has rapidly expanded to a higher level of function-the study of expression profiles and the roles of genes and proteins (Del and Cattaneo, 2012). Remdesivir is currently approved by the FDA for usage in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, although additional information is still required to comprehend the drug’s function in severe COVID-19. Numerous randomized trials of other candidate therapies are underway, including antivirals, antibodies, and immunomodulators (Berlin et al., 2020; Choy et al., 2020; Liu et al., 2020; Wang et al., 2020). Genomic studies into COVID-19 are rapidly increasing. With regard to the S gene and receptor binding domain (RBD), the COVID-19 genome and phylogeny are comparable to those of the SARS-CoV-2, indicating the potential for direct human-to-human transmission (Zhu et al., 2020). SARS-CoV-2 is currently spreading globally as a highly mutated Omicron variant virus. The genomes, dispersal, and effectiveness of vaccinations against Omicron variations are the main topics of the current study (Araf et al., 2022). However, there is limited information on the status of Omicron variants. ANG proposes that SARS-CoV-2 can be divided into two main lineages (L and S), which can be well defined by two tightly linked single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at positions 8,782 (orf1ab: T8517C, synonym) and 28, 144 (ORF8: C251T, S84L). Among them, the function of the S84L AA change in ORF8 and the possible roles of these two mutations in the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2 (Tang et al., 2020).

Since the genetic information of SARS-CoV-2 was first published, various molecular approaches including reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP), real-time RT-LAMP, recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA), genome-wide high-throughput sequencing, and clustered regularly interspersed short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated system (CRISPR/Cas)-based methods have been used for genetic testing (Rahimi et al., 2021). The use of small non-coding RNAs (either endogenous or exogenous) in RNA interference (RNAi) to match target mRNAs (messenger RNAs) in a sequence-specific manner and silence their expression may potentially combat SARS-CoV-2 (Kim et al., 2009). COVID-19 vaccines based on novel mRNA technology are one of the primary preventive measures to protect humans worldwide from COVID-19 (Laine et al., 2021a; Laine et al., 2021b).

The keyword with the strongest emergent intensity in this study and lasting into 2019 is wuhan. In addition, studies related to functional receptors, influenza, and pathogenesis are also at the forefront of research on COVID-19. In late December 2019, some patients were admitted to the hospital with an initial diagnosis of pneumonia of unknown etiology, the first appearance of which may be considered epidemiologically related to the seafood and wet animal wholesale market in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China (Bogoch et al., 2020; Lu et al., 2020; Rothan and Byrareddy, 2020). Human angiotensin-converting enzyme II (hACE2) has been identified as a functional receptor for SARS-CoV-2. Sun et al. used CRISPR/Cas9 knock-in technology to generate a mouse model expressing hACE2 and discovered that hACE2 mice maintained high viral loads in the lungs, trachea, and brain following intranasal infection. They also found interstitial pneumonia and elevated cytokines were found in aged hACE2 mice that were infected with SARS-CoV-2 (Sun et al., 2020). While the genomic pathogenesis and process of covid-19 are through spike binding to ACE2, allowing SARS-CoV-2 to enter and infect cells, the spike protein must be triggered by a protease called TMPRSS2 (Hoffmann et al., 2020). After the virus enters the host cell and uncoats, the genome is transcribed and then translated, a process involved in the coordination of continuous and discontinuous RNA synthesis mediated by viral replication (Guo et al., 2020; Mousavizadeh and Ghasemi, 2021).

In addition, we should also pay close attention to the still popular research topics of molecular docking and mRNA that appeared in 2021. Molecular docking is structural molecular biology and computer-aided drug design that can be used to virtually screen large compound libraries, rank results, and propose structural hypotheses about how ligands inhibit targets (Morris and Lim-Wilby, 2008). Molecular docking technology is widely used in COVID-19, such as the use of Huashi Baidu formula (HSBDF) in China to treat patients with severe COVID-19, where baicalein and quercetin were found to be compounds with high affinity for ACE2 through network pharmacology and molecular docking (Tao et al., 2020). In clinical observations and randomized controlled trials, Lianhua Qingwen Capsules were protective against SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 (Xiao et al., 2020). Molecular docking of Lianhua Qingwen capsules shows the interaction mode between effective molecules and targeted proteins, revealing the active pockets of Serine/threonine-protein kinase AKT (Akt1), namely β-carotene, kaempferol, luteolin, naringenin, quercetin, rhein, forsythoside A, and wogonin, which reduce tissue damage and contribute to the elimination of COVID-19 infection (Li et al., 2020; Xia et al., 2020; Chen et al., 2021). In the past few years, messenger RNA (mRNA) has emerged as a promising class of drugs for the treatment of a variety of diseases (Li et al., 2019). T The BNT162b2 messenger RNA vaccine has demonstrated efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 (Bergwerk et al., 2021; Jain et al., 2021).

Most of the current research on COVID-19 has focused on detection techniques, vaccine prevention, and treatment strategies. We found that a few months after the outbreak of COVID-19, Maryam Okhovati et al. found through visual analysis of bibliometrics that the research cluster in China was “quantitative testing” and the United States was “biological assessment” (Okhovati and Arshadi, 2021). There are also the bibliometric statistics of COVID-19 from the perspectives of the eyes (Sánchez-Tena et al., 2021) and ENT department (Wang et al., 2022). We performed statistical and visual analysis of COVID-19 genomics by searching the 2019-2022, countries, institutions, authors, journals, coreferences and keywords. The research hotspots of COVID-19 revolve around quarantine, biological management, angiotensin-converting enzyme-2, RNA-dependent RNA, polymerase, etc. Research fronts and trends focus on molecular docking, messenger RNA, functional receptor, etc. In addition, the existing review articles do not reveal the key issues of the current research hotspots in COVID-19 genomics.

This study has several unique advantages. First of all, we provide the first systematic analysis of genomics studies of COVID-19 through bibliometrics, providing a comprehensive guide for scholars who pay attention to related research. Secondly, the bibliometric analysis provides a more comprehensive insight into hotspots and frontiers than traditional reviews. Last but not least, previous studies have focused on detection techniques used to diagnose COVID-19 infections, emerging variants, and vaccine development and prevention. In the present study, we focused on the role of genomics in COVID-19 and gave a new interpretation of COVID-19 at the molecular level.

Of course, this study also has some shortcomings. First of all, the data for this study were only from the WoSCC database. Other databases such as Scopus or Google were ignored, and some relevant research may be omitted. Secondly, we only used the CiteSpace measurement tool in our survey. VOSviewer (Luo and Lin, 2021), NetDraw (Ramin et al., 2016), HistSite (Ramin et al., 2016) were not involved in the survey. We believed that the combination of one or two databases will make the experimental data more accurate and comprehensive in future studies.

In summary, this study used CiteSpace software to visualize countries, institutions, authors, journals, literature, keywords, etc. in the WOS from 2019 to 2022 on COVID-19 genomics. Based on the above bibliometric analysis, the main conclusions of this study can be summarized as follows: (1) COVID-19 broke out in 2019, and there was little research on genomics. The number of research in this field has increased rapidly since 2020; (2) The countries, institutions, and authors of COVID-19 genomics are mainly concentrated in countries such as the United States, China, and India; (3)Its research hotspots are focused on the sars-cov-2 virus, functional receptor, pathogenesis, molecular docking, mRNA, which are the prospects for further research in the field of COVID-19 genomics. This research provides a reference for new drug development and vaccine update.

The datasets presented in this study can be found in online repositories. The names of the repository/repositories and accession number(s) can be found in the article/supplementary material.

Conceptualization: Z-YP, XZ. Data curation: X-MP, J-JS. Methodology: X-MP, B-CZ. Visualization: X-MP. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.