Tabriz University of Medical Sciences Pharmaceutical Sciences 1735-403X 27 4 2021 12 01 The Potential Use of Aptamers in The Process of Drug Development 503 510 10.34172/PS.2021.17 EN Tooba Gholikhani https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9714-7257 Balam Jimenez Brito Frey Livingston Shalen Kumar https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8808-0604 Journal Article 10.34172/PS.2021.17 2020 11 10 2021 03 24 Single-stranded nucleic acids can fold and create unique 3-dimensional structures when interacting with other molecules. The unique structure can achieve high specificity and affinity for the particular target. Synthetic oligonucleotide binding agents, also known as aptamers, are generated through the rational process of Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment (SELEX). As this technology matures, it shows increasing promise for use in the field of therapeutic drugs, drug discovery, development, and delivery, and this report seeks to detail how this technology may be applied.