Notice of intent to sole source pacbio RS II system

Added: Aug 14, 2015 2:54 pm The U.S. Department of Agriculture, ARS, WBSC, Stoneville, Mississippi, intends to award a sole source procurement to Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc., Menlo Park, CA 94025 for a PacBio RS II system for DNA sequencing producing long read sequences critical to genome assembly. The complete purchase will include:

1) 1EA (100-201-100) PacBio RS II system with related hardware and software components, three day training of operation and library preparation, and a second year service contract

The PacBio RS II System is covered by numerous patents owned by Pacific Biosciences. Pacific Biosciences is the only known vendor of the PacBio RS II System and associated library preparation, polymerase, and sequencing reagents in the United States.

The system is unique in many aspects that are critical to genome assembly. This includes the ability to sequence DNA that has not been amplified by PCR. This helps in the reduction of errors and prevents redundancy which would impact overall output. The RS II system can produce extremely long reads with an average of 10-15K and as long as 40K. In comparison the Illumina platform can only produce 600 bp read lengths while the Roche 454 or Ion torrent produce variable read lengths of 200-1200 bp. The system can also detect base modifications such as DNA methylation. In general, with one SMART cell enough DNA sequence is obtained of length and amount that a whole genome assembly of a bacteris can be accomplished with few gaps, in most instances. This is achieved in part due to the long read lengths which help cover gaps missed by other technologies.

Pursuant to the authority of 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1) and FAR 6.302-1, Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements. The equipment will be located at the USDA-ARS-Genomics and Bioinformatics Research Unit, Stoneville, MS. The Government intends to award a firm fixed price purchase order on or about August 24, 2015. This Notice of Intent is not considered a Request for Quotation (RFQ) nor is it a Request for Proposals (RFP). No solicitation document is available and telephone requests will not be honored. Interested persons may identify their interest and capability to respond to this requirement. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The Government will consider all responses received by 4:00PM Central Standard Time, August 21, 2015. Information received will be considered solely for determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Inquiries will only be accepted via mail/email to the following address:

Contracting Office Address:
USDA-ARS-WBSC
Shalunda Mix
141 Experiment Station Road
Stoneville, MS. 38776-0225
shalunda.mix@ars.usda.gov