Nucleic acid amplification by emulsion beads.

Method for amplifying one or more nucleic acids on a bead, comprising the following steps: (a) forming an emulsion of water in oil to create a plurality of aqueous microreactors wherein at least one of the microreactors comprises a nucleic acid single-stranded template, a single bead with a first population comprising a plurality of molecules of a first species of primer disposed thereon, and a solution of amplification reaction comprising a second population comprising a plurality of molecules of the first kind of primer, a plurality of molecules of a second kind of primer, and reagents necessary to carry out the nucleic acid amplification, wherein the first kind of primer capable of binding to single stranded nucleic acid template, the second species of primer is able to bind to a complementary nucleic acid strand single-stranded template, and the concentration of the second kind of primer is greater than the second population of the first species of primer in the reaction solution of amplification, (b) asymmetrically amplifying the template single-stranded nucleic acid and the complementary strand to the template strand in the reaction solution amplification, to form a population of amplified copies of the nucleic acid single-stranded template, and (c) attaching a plurality of amplified copies asymmetrically single stranded nucleic acid to the first population of the first primer species on the bead in the microreactor, wherein a bead bound complementary strand is extended from the first primer species of mold.