A memory cell and methods of making and operating the same are provided. In one aspect, a method of forming a memory cell is provided that includes forming a MOS transistor that has a gate, a source region and a drain region. A bipolar transistor is formed that has a collector, a base and an emitter. The emitter of the bipolar transistor is formed to serve as the source region for the MOS transistor and the base of the bipolar transistor is formed to serve as a capacitive charge storage region for the memory cell.