Rare Earth Elements and Proteins as Tools in Research

The US Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) intends to negotiate on a sole source basis (IAW FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)) with the Bioconscientia, LLC, (Cage 9BNY4) for a contract for Nitrate Reduction via Rare Earth Elements as a Solution in Synthetic Biology Research.  The minimum needs for this requirement shall include: investigate the use of synthetic biology to design bioenabled materials for development of resilient and sustainable resources and infrastructure, support development of secure supply chains for critical materials such as Rare Earth Elements (REE) and developing sensors/enzymes for monitoring and degrading chemicals and biologicals in the environment. The Contractor must demonstrate successful fusion of synthetic biology research and the design of electronically controlled bioenabled materials for the US Government; must demonstrate experience using synthetic biology approaches involving microorganisms; must demonstrate publication success in synthetic biology, bioenabled materials, and microorganisms; and must have PhD in Synthetic Biology or other related field. The developed methods and algorithms are proprietary under the previous listed contract and the new follow-on tasks rely on this data for project continuity.This acquisition is being conducted under FAR 13.106-1(b). The intended procurement will be classified under North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 541714 Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology), with a small business size standard of 1,000 employees. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals and no solicitation document exists for this requirement. All capability statements received by the closing date of the publication of this synopsis will be considered by the Government. A determination by the Government not to compete based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will normally be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement.