Method for aptamer selection and identification

A method for selecting and identifying aptamers with high specificity and affinity against a target of interest, said method comprising:

• a) Performing recombinatorial SELEX (Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential enrichment) for screening, selecting, identifying, and characterizing aptamers against the target of interest, and
• b) Integrating Computational SELEX with a constrained genetic algorithm (GA) to further identify and characterize the aptamers that are stable and have the desired specificity and affinity against the target of interest,
• wherein the constrained genetic algorithm (GA) recombines oligonucleotide sequences around a target specific core sequence, and
• wherein the core sequence is designed and conducted in a de novo design module (“ColdStart”) that selects an accessible amino acid sequence on target protein as visualized using a protein data bank file.