National Institute of Mental Health, Contracts Management Branch, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rm. 9C-15, Rockville, MD, 20857-8030

A -- BRAIN MOLECULAR ANATOMY PROJECT: GENE DISCOVERY SOL NIMH-98-DB-0014 DUE 082198 POC Contracting Officer, Patricia L. Gibbons, (301) 443-2696 WEB: NIMH-98-DB-0014, http://www.nimh.nih.gov. E-MAIL: Click here to contact the contracting officer via, pgibbons@nih.gov. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) announce their intent to award one (1) fixed price contract under NIMH Request for Proposal (RFP) No. NIMH-98-DB-0014, "Brain Molecular Anatomy Project: Gene Discovery." Issue date of the RFP will be on or about Tuesday, July 21, 1998 with receipt of proposals due on or about Friday, August 21, 1998. It is anticipated that award will be made on or about September 30, 1998. Proposals are being solicited under Full and Open Competitive procedures. This RFP invites proposals for the production of high-quality, representative cDNA libraries from specific anatomical regions of the adult mouse brain, and for assessment of the utility of the cDNA libraries for novel gene discovery. It is expected that one contract shall be awarded for the requirements specified in this RFP. The primary goal of this contract is the discovery of novel genes expressed in the adult mouse brain. Given this goal,it is not essential to utilize tissue from finely localized brain regions. The identification of genes from more coarsely localized regions at this point will facilitate the development of resources for future studies of gene expression patterns in which neuroanatomical regions are finely mapped. The contractor shall design quality assurance and quality control standards and protocols and methodologies to achieve all of the following requirements: 1). Improve and/or develop new techniques for preparing high-quality RNA for the purpose of generating cDNA libraries from mouse brain tissue; 2). Develop techniques for the preparation of high-quality representative cDNA libraries; 3). Improve technologies for the purpose of assessing the quality of the cDNA libraries using high-throughput sequencing and; 4). Distribution of biological materials and dissemination of data. This project requires expertise using state-of-the-art, cutting-edge technology and capabilities for refining existing technologies for the above requirements. Offerors must have personnel on staff with the required expertise and existing, appropriate laboratories. Personnel in highly specialized areas of science, such as neuroanatomy, molecular biology, and genetics, will be required. In order for an offerors' proposal to be considered for review, all offerors must include in their Technical Proposal Cover Sheet the following statement: "The Offeror agrees to produce materials and data that shall be widely distributed to the scientific community, provide sequencing data to Genbank, provide cDNA libraries to an NIH designated contractor and, shall keep all data in the public domain as stipulated in FAR Clause 52.227-14, "Rights in Data General." THE RFP WILL BE AVAILABLE IN ELECTRONIC FORMAT at URL http://www.nimh.nih.gov select "Grants and Contracts" then "NIMH Request for Proposals (RFP)" then select "NIMH-98-DB-0014." It will be available fifteen or more calendar days after the issuance of this synopsis. OFFERORS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ROUTINELY CHECKING THE NIMH WEBSITE FOR ANY POSSIBLE SOLICITATION AMENDMENTS THAT MAY BE ISSUED. NO INDIVIDUAL NOTIFICATION OF ANY AMENDMENTS WILL BE PROVIDED. All responsible sources may submit a proposal that will be considered by the agency.***** Posted 07/08/98. (0189)

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