BIOMEDICAL CONVERGENCE FACILITATED BY THE EMERGENCE OF TECHNOLOGICAL AND INFORMATIC CAPABILITIES

Abstract

We leverage the knowledge network representation of the Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) ontology to infer conceptual distances between roughly 30,000 distinct MeSH keywords — each being prescribed to particular knowledge domains — in order to quantify the origins of cross-domain biomedical convergence. Analysis of MeSH co-occurrence networks based upon 21.6 million research articles indexed by PubMed identifies three robust knowledge clusters: micro-level biological entities and structures; meso-level representations of systems, and diseases and diagnostics; and emergent macro-level biological and social phenomena. Analysis of cross-cluster dynamics shows how these domains integrated from the 1990s onward via technological and informatic capabilities — captured by MeSH belonging to the “Technology, Industry, and Agriculture” (J) and “Information Science” (L) branches — representing highly controllable, scalable and permutable research processes and invaluable imaging techniques for illuminating fundamental yet transformative structure–function–behavior questions. Our results indicate that 8.2% of biomedical research from 2000 to 2018 include MeSH terms from both the J and L MeSH branches, representing a 291% increase from 1980s levels. Article-level MeSH analysis further identifies the increasing prominence of cross-domain integration, and confirms a positive relationship between team size and topical diversity. Journal-level analysis reveals variable trends in topical diversity, suggesting that demand and appreciation for convergence science vary by scholarly community. Altogether, we develop a knowledge network framework that identifies the critical role of techno-informatic inputs as convergence bridges — or catalyzers of integration across distinct knowledge domains — as highlighted by the 1990s genomics revolution, and onward in contemporary brain, behavior and health science initiatives.