US Patent 11021742 Linked-fragment sequencing

The invention generally relates to sequencing library preparation methods. In certain embodiments, two or more template nucleic acids are joined together by a linking molecule, such as a PEG derivative. Identical copies of a nucleic acid fragment or both strands of a duplex fragment may be linked together. The linked nucleic acids are amplified, creating linked amplicons. Emulsion PCR with linked primers creates linked template nucleic acids for seeding sequencing clusters and errors can be readily identified by their presence on only one of the linked fragments.