Aptamer and its selection via various SELEX strategies

Aptamers of small-molecule targets have broad application prospects and great potential for economic benefits in the fields of biological analysis, food and environmental detection, molecular imaging, and disease diagnosis and treatment; therefore, the aptamer sensing technology for small molecule analysis and detection is a research focus. To date, hundreds of aptamers targeting small molecules have been identified, and thousands of aptasensors have been developed based on them. This chapter introduces the concept of aptamer with both optimization and development of various SELEX strategies for the selection of aptamers of small-molecule targets, most of which are hazard factors or nutritional elements of food integrity.