Title:Aptamers Overview: Selection, Features and Applications
VOLUME: 15 ISSUE: 12
Author(s):Luiza I. Hernandez, Isabel Machado, Thomas Schafer and Frank J. Hernandez
Affiliation:Biodonostia Research Institute, San Sebastian, Spain.
Keywords:Aptamers, Chemical modifications, Functionalization, Diagnostics, SELEX, Therapeutics.
Abstract:Apatamer technology has been around for a quarter of a century and the field had matured
enough to start seeing real applications, especially in the medical field. Since their discovery, aptamers
rapidly emerged as key players in many fields, such as diagnostics, drug discovery, food science, drug
delivery and therapeutics. Because of their synthetic nature, aptamers are evolving at an exponential
rate gaining from the newest advances in chemistry, nanotechnology, biology and medicine. This review
is meant to give an overview of the aptamer field, by including general aspects of aptamer identification
and applications as well as highlighting certain features that contribute to their quick deployment
in the biomedical field.
