Chemical amplification based on fluid partitioning

An apparatus for nucleic acid amplification of a sample, comprising: means for partitioning said sample into partitioned sections, wherein said means for partitioning said sample into partitioned sections comprises an injection orifice, and means for performing PCR on said partitioned sections of said sample.

A method of nucleic acid amplification of a sample, comprising the steps of: partitioning said sample into partitioned sections, wherein said step of partitioning said sample into partitioned sections comprises flowing said sample through an injection orifice, and subjecting said partitioned sections of said sample to PCR.

A method of nucleic acid amplification of a sample, the method comprising the steps a. providing an aqueous solution, wherein the aqueous solution comprises components for performing nucleic acid amplification and an input sample comprising a plurality of nucleic acids; b. providing an immiscible partitioning fluid; c. providing a solid substrate, wherein the solid substrate comprises a two-dimensional array of small indentations; d. contacting the aqueous solution with the immiscible partitioning fluid on the solid substrate, wherein the immiscible partitioning fluid is less dense than the aqueous solution, wherein the solid substrate is configured such that the contacting the aqueous solution with the immiscible partitioning fluid partitions the input sample comprising the plurality of nucleic acids into one or more microdroplets, and wherein the one or more microdroplets are further partitioned into and held by the two-dimensional array of small indentations; and e. performing nucleic acid amplification of the one or more microdroplets held by the two-dimensional array of small indentations.