Aptamers: The ‘‘evolution” of SELEX
It has been more than two decades since the first aptamer molecule was discovered. Since then, aptamer
molecules have gain much attention in the scientific field. This increasing traction can be attributed to
their many desirable traits, such as 1) their potentials to bind a wide range of molecules, 2) their malleability,
and 3) their low cost of production. These traits have made aptamer molecules an ideal platform
to pursue in the realm of pharmaceuticals and bio-sensors. Despite the broad applications of aptamers,
tedious procedure, high resource consumption, and limited nucleobase repertoire have hindered aptamer
in application usage. To address these issues, new innovative methodologies, such as automation and
single round SELEX, are being developed to improve the outcomes and rates in which aptamers are
discovered.