What is emulsion PCR?

Emulsion PCR (ePCR) is a commonly used PCR technology for amplification of DNA molecules in picoliter-volume water-in-oil emulsion droplets. These droplets serve as miniaturized “reactors” for each PCR reaction, and are physically separated from each other without exchange of macromolecules, especially the PCR products. Individual DNA molecules are compartmentalized into these distinct reaction droplets, allowing their amplification independent of one another. With emulsion PCR, the formation of unproductive chimeras and other by-products are avoided, and the overall amplification bias is reduced. This technology has been widely exploited for many biochemical applications, such as analytical application, preparative-scale applications, genome-scale DNA and aptamer library construction, as well as next-generation sequencing (NGS).