Patent ID: 8895249

Claim:
A method for amplifying nucleic acids, comprising (a) providing an amplification reagent comprising (i) an array of amplification sites, and (ii) a solution comprising a plurality of different target nucleic acids, wherein the number of the different target nucleic acids in the solution exceeds the number of amplification sites in the array, wherein the different target nucleic acids have fluidic access to the plurality of amplification sites, and wherein each of the amplification sites comprises a capacity for more than one of the nucleic acids in the plurality of different nucleic acids; and (b) reacting the amplification reagent to produce a plurality of amplification sites that each comprise a clonal population of amplicons from an individual target nucleic acid from the solution, wherein the plurality of different target nucleic acids is at a concentration that results in simultaneously (i) transporting the different target nucleic acids to attach at the amplification sites, and (ii) amplifying the target nucleic acids that are at the amplification sites, wherein the amplifying at each amplification site occurs at a rate to promote filling the capacity of the amplification site and exclusion of more than one of the different target nucleic acids from attaching at said each amplification site.