Sven Klussmann is co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of NOXXON Pharma AG, Berlin. He is a Biochemist by training and his initial studies were carried out at the Freie Universitat Berlin, where he obtained his academic degrees. Dr. Klussmann received the Carl Ramsauer Award for his dissertation in which he demonstrated the principles of the Spiegelmer Technology, a new approach to identify biostable mirror-image oligonucleotides (so-called Spiegelmers) that can bind with high affinity to target molecules. He has authored more than 30 articles and 40 patents on oligonucleotides and their applications.

"Considering the overall effort by the editor to gather work by some of the leading researchers on aptamers, I believe The Aptamer Handbook will be referred to as an encyclopedia on aptamer research. This book would most likely appeal to someone who has interest in combinatorial libraries, nucleic acids, and biosensors. Therefore, it would be an excellent addition to the libraries of universities, institutes, and industry, given the diverse aptamer applications in various fields." ChemBioChem "Overall, this is an outstanding book and it will deservedly become the resource of choice for the growing legion of researchers in the aptamer field. Clear illustrations, extensive reference lists for each chapter, and a detailed index supplement the excellent writing. Students and faculty members at all levels will benefit from reading selected chapters in isolation, or from methodically reading the entire book."Angewandte Chemie

• HISTORY AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUNDIn vitro selection of functional oligonucleotides and the origins of biochemical activity (J. M. Carothers and J. Szostak)Mathematical models on RNA evolution, simulations in silico, and concepts for in vitro selection (P. Schuster)Fitness landscapes, error thresholds, and cofactors in aptamer evolution (A. Kun, M. Maurel, M. Santos, E. Szathmary) IN VITRO SELECTION OF TARGET BINDING OLIGONUCLEOTIDESAptamers to small molecules (H. Fickert, I. Fransson, U. Hahn)Aptamers to antibiotics (C. Lorenz, R. Schroeder)Aptamers to proteins (S. Nimjee, C. Rusconi, B. Sullenger)Aptamers to nucleic acid structures (J. Toulme, F. Darfeuille, C. Di Primo, E. Dausse)Natural aptamers - riboswitches (R. Welz, A. Roth, R. Breaker) IN VITRO SELECTION OF SHORT CATALYTICALLY ACTIVE OLIGONUCLEOTIDESCatalytically active RNA molecules: tools in organic chemistry (B. Weigand, A. Zerressen, J. Schlatterer, M. Helm, A. Jaschke)Deoxyribozymes: Catalytically active DNA molecules (K. Schlosser, S. McManus, Y. Li) APPLICATIONS AND OUTLOOKIn vivo and in vitro target validation with nucleic acid aptamers as pharmacological probes (S. Pendergast, D. Epstein)Intramers for protein function analysis and drug discovery (M. Famulok, G. Mayer)Aptazymes: allosteric ribozymes and deoxyribozymes as biosensors (S. Knudsen, A. Ellington)Conversion of aptamer lead structures into small molecules (A. Jenne)Aptamers as ligands for affinity chromatography and capillary electrophoresis applications (E. Peyrin)Aptamers for in vivo imaging (S. Borkowski, L. Dinkelborg)Properties of therapeutic aptamers (S. Cload, T. McCauley, A. Keefe, J. Healy, C. Wilson)Spiegelmers for therapeutic applications (D. Eulberg, F. Jarosch, S. Vonhoff, S. Klussmann)Applications in the clinic: the anti-VEGF aptamer (T. Realini, E. Ng, A. Adamis)Aptamers after fifteen years (L. Gold)