  Digital information can be encoded in the building-block sequence of
macromolecules, such as RNA and single-stranded DNA. Methods of "writing" and
"reading" macromolecular strands are currently available, but they are slow and
expensive. In an ideal molecular data storage system, routine operations such
as write, read, erase, store, and transfer must be done reliably and at high
speed within an integrated chip. As a first step toward demonstrating the
feasibility of this concept, we report preliminary results of DNA readout
experiments conducted in miniaturized chambers that are scalable to even
smaller dimensions. We show that translocation of a single-stranded DNA
molecule (consisting of 50 adenosine bases followed by 100 cytosine bases)
through an ion-channel yields a characteristic signal that is attributable to
the 2-segment structure of the molecule. We also examine the dependence of the
translocation rate and speed on the adjustable parameters of the experiment.
