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Best Female Scientists
2025

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Best Female Scientists

D-Index
157
Citations
94910
World Ranking
114
National Ranking
65

Biology and Biochemistry

D-Index
150
Citations
91817
World Ranking
179
National Ranking
126

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2025 - Research.com Best Female Scientists Award
  • 2018 - Fellow of the Royal Society, United Kingdom
  • 2011 - Benjamin Franklin Medal, Franklin Institute
  • 2006 - Member of the National Academy of Sciences
  • 1999 - Fellow of the MacArthur Foundation

Overview

Jillian F. Banfield is a researcher affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley, in the United States. Their work spans multiple disciplines within biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, and environmental science. The primary focus of their research lies in molecular biology and ecology, with specific interests in environmental chemistry, plant science, and environmental engineering.

The following are some of the recent papers authored by Jillian F. Banfield, highlighting key research topics and publication venues:

  • Life and death in the soil microbiome: how ecological processes influence biogeochemistry, 2022, Nature Reviews Microbiology
  • CRISPR-CasΦ from huge phages is a hypercompact genome editor, 2020, Science
  • inStrain profiles population microdiversity from metagenomic data and sensitively detects shared microbial strains, 2021, Nature Biotechnology
  • Clades of huge phages from across Earth's ecosystems, 2020, Nature
  • Petabase-scale sequence alignment catalyses viral discovery, 2022, Nature

Jillian F. Banfield's publication record includes frequent contributions to specific venues:

  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
  • Nature Communications
  • Nature Microbiology
  • The ISME Journal
  • mBio

Their frequent co-authors include Rohan Sachdeva, Alexander L. Jaffe, Alexander Crits-Christoph, Lin-Xing Chen, and Jennifer A. Doudna.

The main fields of study encompass:

  • Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • Environmental Science

Within these fields, subfields that characterize their research include:

  • Molecular Biology
  • Ecology
  • Environmental Chemistry
  • Plant Science
  • Environmental Engineering

Key topics that define Jillian F. Banfield's work are:

  • Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies
  • Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
  • Bacteriophages and microbial interactions
  • RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms
  • Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena
  • CRISPR and Genetic Engineering
  • Gut microbiota and health

Throughout their career, Jillian F. Banfield has received several awards, including:

  • Fellow of the Royal Society, United Kingdom, 2018
  • Benjamin Franklin Medal, Franklin Institute, 2011
  • Member of the National Academy of Sciences, 2006
  • Fellow of the MacArthur Foundation, 1999

Best Publications

  • Community structure and metabolism through reconstruction of microbial genomes from the environment

    Gene W. Tyson;Jarrod Chapman;Jarrod Chapman;Philip Hugenholtz;Eric E. Allen

  • Imperfect Oriented Attachment: Dislocation Generation in Defect-Free Nanocrystals

    R. Lee Penn;Jillian F. Banfield

  • Minimum information about a single amplified genome (MISAG) and a metagenome-assembled genome (MIMAG) of bacteria and archaea

    Robert M. Bowers;Nikos C. Kyrpides;Ramunas Stepanauskas;Miranda Harmon-Smith

  • A new view of the tree of life

    Laura A. Hug;Laura A. Hug;Brett J. Baker;Karthik Anantharaman;Christopher T. Brown

  • UNDERSTANDING POLYMORPHIC PHASE TRANSFORMATION BEHAVIOR DURING GROWTH OF NANOCRYSTALLINE AGGREGATES: INSIGHTS FROM TIO2

    Hengzhong Zhang;Jillian F. Banfield

  • Crystallization by particle attachment in synthetic, biogenic, and geologic environments

    James J. De Yoreo;James J. De Yoreo;Pupa U. P. A. Gilbert;Pupa U. P. A. Gilbert;Nico A. J. M. Sommerdijk;R. Lee Penn

  • Aggregation-Based Crystal Growth and Microstructure Development in Natural Iron Oxyhydroxide Biomineralization Products

    Jillian F. Banfield;Susan A. Welch;Hengzhong Zhang;Tamara Thomsen Ebert

  • dRep: a tool for fast and accurate genomic comparisons that enables improved genome recovery from metagenomes through de-replication

    Matthew R Olm;Christopher T Brown;Brandon Brooks;Jillian F Banfield

  • Thermodynamic analysis of phase stability of nanocrystalline titania

    Hengzhong Zhang;Jillian F. Banfield

  • Microbial communities in acid mine drainage

    Brett J Baker;Jillian F Banfield

  • Unusual biology across a group comprising more than 15% of domain Bacteria

    Christopher T. Brown;Laura A. Hug;Brian C. Thomas;Itai Sharon

  • Asgard archaea illuminate the origin of eukaryotic cellular complexity

    Katarzyna Zaremba-Niedzwiedzka;Eva Fernández Cáceres;Jimmy Hser Wah Saw;Disa Bäckström

  • Thousands of microbial genomes shed light on interconnected biogeochemical processes in an aquifer system

    Karthik Anantharaman;Christopher T. Brown;Laura A. Hug;Itai Sharon

  • Programmed DNA destruction by miniature CRISPR-Cas14 enzymes.

    Lucas B. Harrington;David Burstein;Janice S. Chen;David Paez-Espino

  • Recovery of genomes from metagenomes via a dereplication, aggregation and scoring strategy.

    Christian M. K. Sieber;Christian M. K. Sieber;Alexander J. Probst;Allison Sharrar;Brian C. Thomas

  • Formation of sphalerite (ZnS) deposits in natural biofilms of sulfate-reducing bacteria.

    Matthias Labrenz;Gregory K. Druschel;Tamara Thomsen-Ebert;Benjamin Gilbert

  • Community Proteomics of a Natural Microbial Biofilm

    Rachna J. Ram;Nathan C. VerBerkmoes;Michael P. Thelen;Michael P. Thelen;Gene W. Tyson

  • Nanoparticulate iron oxide minerals in soils and sediments: unique properties and contaminant scavenging mechanisms

    Glenn A. Waychunas;Christopher S. Kim;Christopher S. Kim;Christopher S. Kim;Jillian F. Banfield;Jillian F. Banfield

  • An Archaeal Iron-Oxidizing Extreme Acidophile Important in Acid Mine Drainage

    Katrina J. Edwards;Philip L. Bond;Thomas M. Gihring;Jillian F. Banfield

  • Influence of surface potential on aggregation and transport of titania nanoparticles.

    Katherine A. Dunphy Guzman;Michael P. Finnegan;Jillian F. Banfield

Frequent Co-Authors

Hengzhong Zhang
Hengzhong Zhang Chinese Academy of Sciences
Kenneth H. Williams
Kenneth H. Williams Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Robert L. Hettich
Robert L. Hettich Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Nathan C Verberkmoes
Nathan C Verberkmoes Oak Ridge National Laboratory
David E. Burstein
David E. Burstein Tel Aviv University
Brett J. Baker
Brett J. Baker The University of Texas at Austin
Jennifer A. Doudna
Jennifer A. Doudna University of California, Berkeley
Michael J. Wilkins
Michael J. Wilkins Colorado State University
Susannah G. Tringe
Susannah G. Tringe Joint Genome Institute

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