title: Beyond the Gene Chip.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Beckman Institute, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL.
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Heng
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aksimentiev
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dimitrov
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sorsch
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Miner
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mansfield
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schulten
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Timp