STUDENTS are playing a major role in helping a York life sciences business position itself to the make the most of a predicted "explosion" in the market it serves.

Aptamer Group, based at York Science Park, has developed technologies to serve an emerging market for aptamers, which serve as a synthetic alternative to anitbodies.

While global forecasts predict the aptamer market is about to explode, nobody knows which exact area of use will take off first, so Aptamer Group has been developing all areas of its business to meet any potential needs.

Kaite Lockwood, group business administrator, said: "It is our world class team, including our growing team of fresh graduates and PhDs from several regional universities, and our novel approach to High Throughput Systems (HTS), utilising custom robotic automation and integration, which has given us a market leading edge."

The business has taken on one full time masters graduate from York who is currently undertaking his PhD in Manchester and one full time graduate from Leeds who is currently undertaking his PhD in Southampton who are further developing the firm's technology, while also attracting a Postdoc from the University of Central Lancashire with a wealth of unique cell aptamer experience.

Miss Lockwood said: "In 2013, Edward Barnes applied to work with us through the University of York for his Masters Industry Placement.

"In the same year Tim Noble joined the company. Tim’s ability caught the eye of a University Professor at Leeds, who went on to contact us and recommend Tim as a candidate that we should consider for an industry placement.

"Industry is challenging and very different from the research environment that they had been used to, however under the mentorship of the company directors and with dedication and hard work, both Tim and Edward successfully completed their placements and produced some very valuable research for the company.

"We are delighted that both of them have been successfully accepted on two very prestigious PhD courses.

"Through our strong links with University of Southampton, we also support a PhD student, Nunzia Spositio, with her studies. Nunzia completed a three months project in 2014 successfully collecting data to support her PhD.

"In August, we took on two graduates (University of York and Sheffield Hallam) both are working on commercially important projects.

"Chris Mapperley will be with us for up to a year before he embarks on his PhD and we hope that George Lockwood continues with the company beyond his initial project becoming a permanent member of the research team.

"Shraddha Aptekar also joined the company in August brining with her some highly valuable and complementary skills, her experience will stand her in good stead in her position as a senior research scientist.

"As you might expect based at York Science Park we have close links with York University.

"We have quarterly meetings with the University to discuss our upcoming needs and students who might be interested in working with aptamers and in our field of technology."