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 a metal-oxide semiconductor (MOS)-capacitor to sense the charge in deoxyribonucleic acid (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. C 2005 Lucent Technologies Inc.