Editorial Commentary

A Next-Generation Milestone in Molecular Biotechnology: Aptamers as an Alternative Tool in Current Literature

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Erkan Mozioğlu^1*

¹Editor-in-Chief, Bio&BioTech Journal

²Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, Institute of Health Sciences, Medical Biotechnology Department, Istanbul, Türkiye

*Corresponding:

erkan.mozioglu[at]acibadem.edu.tr ; erkanmozioglu[at]yahoo.com – ORCID: 0000-0002-3027-5166

Published: 29^th June 2026

www.bbtechjournal.com

Abstract

As target-specific molecules that can be utilized in both diagnostics and therapeutics, aptamers have gained increasing interest in recent years as alternatives to conventional antibodies. In addition to their low-cost production and lack of batch-to-batch variations due to their synthetic nature, their ease of chemical modification allows them to be readily adapted into various biosensor applications such as fluorescent, electrochemical, and colorimetric platforms. Furthermore, their compatibility with polymeric structures and targeted drug delivery platforms further strengthens their potential in biotechnology.

Keywords: aptamers, biosensors, aptasensors, therapeutics, diagnostics, theranostics

Introduction

One of the most critical topics in biotechnology is the development of nanotechnological tools that can bind to target structures, which hold invaluable importance for both diagnostics and therapeutics. For many years, tools developed by inspiring naturally occurring antibody molecules for this purpose have taken a place in every field of biotechnology. However, because the acquisition, production, storage, and delivery of these molecules involve significant challenges, they have unfortunately remained confined to specific manufacturers. This has prevented biotechnology from achieving its expected cost-reducing benefits. Furthermore, because antibodies directly require in vivo production conditions, they possess limitations such as batch-to-batch production variations due to the use of experimental animals or cell culture media. Due to these emerging disadvantages alongside their advantages, non-natural synthetic biomolecules, namely aptamers, which came to the agenda in the early 1990s and have since attracted steadily increasing interest, offer an important alternative.^[1,2,3] Because they are produced synthetically, they do not exhibit batch-to-batch variations; moreover, their costs are considerably lower compared to antibodies. For this reason, they stand out as a cost-effective and powerful alternative that may help expand the practical benefits of biotechnology.

For aptamers, potential targets range from small molecules such as aflatoxins to macromolecules like proteins, and even larger targets including bacteria or any cancer cells. Furthermore, while obtaining antibodies requires a biological system to mount an immunological response against target molecules, namely antigens, aptamers, on the contrary, do not require this. They remain unaffected even if the exact characteristics of the target are not fully known, or if it is a synthetic target such as xeno-molecules, because the entire selection process takes place completely outside living organisms.

The term “aptamer” is derived from the combination of the words “apta” and “mer”. “Apta” denotes “fitting” or “to fit”, whereas “mer” denotes a “unit” or “part”.^[2,3] In terms of their chemical character, aptamers can be classified as either nucleic acids or peptides. The generation of aptamers is a selection process. This process differs between nucleic acid aptamers and peptide aptamers. Focusing on the most widely used methods, nucleic acid-based aptamer selection is referred to as SELEX. In contrast, peptide-based aptamers are obtained by completing selection cycles known as biopanning, which utilizes phage display technology.

Despite their different nomenclatures, both selection cycles essentially begin with an aptamer library. This library theoretically contains up to 10¹⁵ unique molecular candidates. The incubation of this library with the target structure selectively results in the binding of certain candidates to the target. A subsequent washing step then separates the bound molecules from the unbound fractions. This is followed by the third step of the cycle, elution, which involves releasing and recovering the bound candidates from the target. This step yields the enriched pool of candidate aptamers that leads back to the beginning of the next cycle. This stage is critical because the recovered pool can enter the subsequent round only through amplification; for this purpose, PCR is generally utilized for nucleic acids, whereas phage culture methods are employed for peptides.

Naturally, as in all biotechnological research, aptamer technology presents challenges that are easily stated in theory but much more difficult to manage in practice. These obstacles include nonspecific amplification, nonspecific selection resulting from candidate molecules binding directly to the reaction vessels rather than the true target, and the risk of obtaining low-affinity or poorly selective aptamers at the end of all these cycles. However, several alternative preventive methods have been developed and are currently in use to mitigate these issues. These strategies range from utilizing negative SELEX protocols and adjusting incubation times or temperatures to blocking plates and tubes to prevent background binding, as well as employing alternative surfaces such as magnetic beads. Despite their structural integrity, nucleic acid aptamers composed of RNA or single-stranded DNA, and small peptide aptamers are inherently vulnerable to nuclease or protease degradation. This sensitivity creates a significant disadvantage when compared to antibodies in certain settings, such as biological samples containing these enzymes, as well as their therapeutic application in the body. However, these limitations are being effectively overcome through molecular engineering. Researchers are now able to design aptamers that are highly resistant to both nucleases and proteases by using modified nucleotides such as Locked Nucleic Acids (LNAs) and Peptide Nucleic Acids (PNAs), or other specific chemical modifications. Consequently, as these molecular modifications continue to advance, aptamers will solidify their position as an invaluable and cost-effective alternative for the future of molecular diagnostics and targeting therapies.

The synthetic structure of aptamers not only facilitates their modification to resist nuclease or protease degradation but also provides significant advantages over antibodies by enabling a wide variety of functional adaptations. These modifications allow aptamers to be fluorescently labeled, biotinylated to interact with targets such as streptavidin (thereby facilitating their immobilization on magnetic bead surfaces for purification purposes), or to incorporate thiol groups to bind to gold surfaces via self-assembled monolayers (SAM) for use in advanced biosensor designs. With these flexible features, aptamers offer tremendous potential across a broad spectrum of biotechnology applications, ranging from downstream purification and diagnostics to targeted drug delivery systems and therapeutic agents. As a result, aptamers, as theranostic molecules capable of simultaneous diagnosis and treatment, represent a highly potent and promising alternative to traditional antibodies.^[4]

More than three decades after their discovery, have aptamers become widely available in all areas of biotechnology, or are they still limited to the stages of scientific development and technological accumulation? The latest market analyses show that the global aptamer market is expected to grow from $3.25 billion in 2025 to $4.05 billion in 2026.^[5] Furthermore, the market is estimated to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 24.80% between 2026 and 2030, eventually reaching $9.84 billion.^[5] This economic growth demonstrates how aptamers are transforming from an academic curiosity into a cornerstone of commercial biotechnology. However, commercial products in the therapeutic field are still behind those in the diagnostic field. To date, only two products have succeeded in entering the market as FDA-approved drugs for clinical use: Pegaptanib (Macugen) in 2004 and Avacincaptad pegol (Izervay) in 2023.^[6] This slow clinical translation underscores that these biological and technical limitations not only caused delays in the past but also still remain challenges to be overcome to unlock the immense therapeutic potential of aptamer technology.

Naturally, every innovation goes through a painful and challenging process, and each new day holds the promise of new methods and technologies being developed to overcome the obstacles faced by these high-potential biomolecules. Consequently, researchers working in this field continue to closely follow emerging studies that may advance aptamer science and technology. In this context, the Bio&BioTech Journal looks forward to being at the forefront of this pioneering process by publishing high-quality research in the field of aptamer technology, ensuring that these studies meet the rigorous editorial and peer-review standards applied to all submissions.

Acknowledges

A special thanks to Gülşen Altınkanat Gelmez for sharing valuable insights and providing constructive suggestions that elevated this Editorial Commentary to its final, advanced form.

References

1. Domsicova M, Korcekova J, Poturnayova A, Breier A. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024;25:6833. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25136833.
2. Tuerk C, Gold L. Science. 1990;249(4968):505-510.
3. Ellington AD, Szostak JW. Nature. 1990;346(6287):818-822.
4. Arshad F, Chinnappan R, Mir TA, Ahmed Z, Arora I, Khan MI, Yaqinuddin A. Front. Immunol. 2026;17:1818316. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2026.1818316.
5. The Business Research Company. 2026. Aptamers Market Report 2026;BTRC4490. Last Access: 2026.06.27. www.thebusinessresearchcompany.com.
6. Bege M, Ghanem Kattoub R, Borbás A. Pharmaceutics. 2025;17(3):394. doi: 10.3390/pharmaceutics17030394.