Advanced in what sense? There are many means by which drag may be reduced depending upon the application. For high lift where separation is an issue, pressure drag is the main problem, and here vortex generators work. Check out some work done by DERA (now QinetiQ). I think there is a paper by Hackett and co-workers on the 10th international symposium on laser applicationsin fluid mechanics. Wheeler type devices are not always better, it depends upon the spacing of the VVGs, and whether they are co- or counter-rotating. Synthetic jets are also being considered for this purpose (work of many including myself (Crook) and Glezer). For attached flow, drag reduction means reducing skin-friction which means shaping to keep the flow laminar or advanced techniques such as riblets, polymer addition, spanwise wall oscillation. The list is endless. Vortex generators are not advanced. The CTR at Stanford (where I work) are doing some work on drag reduction using polymers. Another technique is to use plasma to control boundary layer turbulence and reduce drag.
Hope this helps. For good reviews and papers, check out JFM, Physics of Fluids, Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics, Progress in Aerospace Sciences, AIAA Journal and Journal of Aircraft, and the Aeronautical Journal (RAeS). There are also plenty of books out there. You may want to check out the book by Gad-el-Hak and visit his website.
