Beyond the Gene Chip.
We describe a prospective strategy for reading the encyclopedic information encoded in the genome: using a nanopore in a membrane formed from an MOS-capacitor to sense the charge in DNA. In principle, as DNA permeates the capacitor-membrane through the pore, the electrostatic charge distribution characteristic of the molecule should polarize the capacitor and induce a voltage on the electrodes that can be measured. Silicon nanofabrication and molecular dynamic simulations with atomic detail are technological linchpins in the development of this detector. The sub-nanometer precision available through silicon nanotechnology facilitates the fabrication of the detector, and molecular dynamics provides us with a means to design it and analyze the experimental outcomes.
Heng
J B
JB
Beckman Institute, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL.
Aksimentiev
A
A
Ho
C
C
Dimitrov
V
V
Sorsch
T
T
Miner
J
J
Mansfield
W
W
Schulten
K
K
Timp
G
G