RNA Selection and Evolution In Vitro: Powerful Techniques for the Analysis and Identification of new Molecular Tools

In vitro selection and evolution are robust and versatile tools that, over the last 15 years, have been successfully used to elucidate the structure and function of natural ribozymes, and to identify novel and unsuspected catalytic functions for nucleic acids. The discovering of the affinity of RNA and DNA for a wide range of ligands was also made using these techniques. Such findings have begun to make clear the great clinical and biotechnological potential of nucleic acids. This review summarizes the basic principles of in vitro selection and evolution, focusing on the work that has contributed to their development.