Aptamers: An in vitro Evolution of Therapeutic and Diagnostic Applications in Medicine

Aptamers are nucleic acid oligomers with distinct conformational shapes that allow binding targets with high affinity and specificity. Selective Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment (SELEX); an in vitro selection process to develop aptamers, has been invented in 1990. Despite more than 20 years have passed after its discovery, products of SELEX technology are in use in medicine. In this review we discuss why we need aptamers not only in therapeutic but also in diagnostic applications; and also critical points in SELEX technology. Finally; we present the aptamers in use and some patented aptamers awaiting approval.