In the world of medicine, less is more. Pumping someone full of drugs to combat an illness may succeed in the end, but leave a patient feeling less than healthy. Just ask anyone who has been through chemotherapy.

So what is on the horizon to make medicine more fine-tuned? In addition to making thousands upon thousands of variations of existing drugs, pharmaceutical companies are turning to novel delivery methods to get these great new drugs exactly where they need to be in the body to do the most good.

Aptamers are one such targeting method, and they could make a real difference in people's lives, very soon. Science in Seconds reports on these tiny medical marvels.

<sub>Host: Rheanna Sand

Photo Credits: Wikimedia users dysamoria, Bastet78, Tom Varco, CDC; Magugen.com.

References:
http://www.ted.com/talks/kary_mullis_next_gen_cure_for_killer_infections.html
http://jcp.bmj.com/content/63/6/480.abstract
http://www.genelink.com/newsite/products/aptamers.asp
http://www.physorg.com/news198943859.html
http://jnm.snmjournals.org/cgi/content/full/47/4/668
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aptamer</sub>