National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Contracts Operations Branch, 6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 6100, MSC 7902, Bethesda, MD 20892

A -- MAINTAIN COLLECTIONS OF LIVING REFERENCE STRAINS OF MICROORGANISMS AND CELL CULTURES POC Patricia Smith, Contracting Officer, 301-435-0345 E-MAIL: Click here to contact the Contracting Officer via e-mail, ps44b@nih.gov. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute intends to negotiate on a non-competitive basis (on behalf of the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR)) with the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) for the acquisition, preservation, authentication, and distribution of biomedically relevant, taxonomically related cells, microorganisms, viruses, and DNA materials as Collections. NIH has continuously contracted with ATCC since 1974 for these services. This requirement is for an additional five years. The ATCC is a non-profit organization established in 1925 and is this country's only long-term repository and distribution center which functions as a "museum" for living microorganisms, viruses, cell lines and DNA, plus other reagents. By collecting, certifying to their purity and authenticity, propagating, distributing, and referencing such materials, ATCC provides invaluable research support vital to the advancement of biomedical research. The repository functions of the ATCC are essential to NCRR's mission of providing a number of diverse research sources to biomedical researchers. Authenticated cultures are the principal starting materials for much biomedical research. If such cultures are not available, or if they are contaminated or incorrectly identified, there would be a considerable waste of research time and funds. NIH knows of no other organization that can provide these services. Authority: 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1) as set forth in FAR 6.302-1. Interested respondents must submit written capability statements demonstrating the ability to provide the same repository materials and distribution center, as well as the facilities and staffing to perform these services, described above. Responses providing insufficient information will not be considered. This is not a Request For Proposals. See Numbered Note 22. (0027)

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