Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Mental Health, Contracts Management Branch, 6001 Executive Blvd, Rm 6107, MSC 9603, Bethesda, MD, 20892-9603

A -- BMAP: GENE DISCOVERY IN THE DEVELOPING NERVOUS SYSTEM SOL NIMH-00-DB-0006 DUE 091200 POC Alex Navas, Contract Specialist, Phone (301) 443-2696, Fax (301) 443-0501, Email anavas@mail.nih.gov -- Alex Navas, Contract Specialist, Phone (301) 443-2696, Fax (301) 443-0501, Email anavas@mail.nih.gov WEB: Visit this URL for the latest information about this, http://www.eps.gov/cgi-bin/WebObjects/EPS?ACode=P&ProjID=NIMH-00-DB-00 06&LocID=2927. E-MAIL: Alex Navas, anavas@mail.nih.gov. The National Institute of Mental Health proposes to issue solicitation No. NIMH-00-DB-0006 entitled "BMAP: GENE DISCOVERY IN THE DEVELOPING NERVOUS SYSTEM " as a 100% full and open competitive procedure under SIC Code 8733. The NIMH plans to award one (1) cost-reimbursement completion type contract, with a three-year base period and two (2) one-year options, on or about December 23, 2000. In 1998, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) initiated the Brain Molecular Anatomy Project (BMAP), an interdisciplinary project to establish state-of-the-art technologies and informatics systems to decipher the molecular anatomy of the mammalian brain. As part of this multi-institute effort, NIMH and NINDS awarded a contract (N01MH80014) to the University of Iowa (M. B. Soares, PI) to support construction of cDNA libraries from 10 brain regions, spinal cord, and retina in the adult mouse using strain C57BL6/J. This two-year project, which will be completed by the end of Calendar Year 2000, aims to identify over 75,000 3' ESTs from serially subtracted libraries and generate a non-redundant collection of > 20,000 mouse brain cDNA clones. The biological resources obtained through current BMAP contract will be made widely available to the scientific community. These resources include EST sequences, cDNA clones and libraries, and a collection of non-redundant arrayed cDNA clones representing transcripts expressed in adult mouse neural tissue ("BMAP UniGene" sets). This contract is a recompetition and expansion of this work. The primary goal of this contract is the discovery of novel genes expressed in the developing mouse nervous system. This contract requires the production of high-quality, representative cDNA libraries from specific anatomical regions of the mouse nervous system at different developmental stages to identify and discover the genes whose expression is restricted spatially and temporally during development. The utility of thisapproach for novel gene discovery, namely utilization of representative cDNA libraries and determination of Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) present in the cDNA libraries, clearly has been demonstrated by the success of the on-going BMAP gene discovery project. The primary requirements are: 1) Preparation and isolation of high-quality RNA using improved and/or new technologies for the purpose of generating cDNA libraries from the developing mouse nervous system; 2) Preparation of high-quality representative cDNA libraries using state-of-the-art techniques (use approved protocols to prepare approximately twenty (20) cDNA libraries in combination of developmental stages and regions of the nervous system); 3) Utilization of high-throughput sequencing to assess the quality of the cDNA libraries; generation of BMAP Developmental UniGene Sets (perform DNA sequencing on clones in cDNA libraries prepared in Requirement 2 above, in order to generate up to 100,000-150,000 3' ESTs, during the 3-year base period of the contract); and 4) Dissemination of data; storage and distribution of biological materials. If exercised by the Government, there are options to extend the term of the contract as follows: each option year following the three-year base contract period will require the Contractor to prepare eight (8) to twelve (12) cDNA libraries per year, which will include developmental stages and regions of the nervous system that are not covered initially. Also, if exercised by the Government, there are options for increased quantities for the base period and optional periods, as follows: the Contractor shall, during the base period, generate up to 15 additional cDNA libraries, and 150,000 EST sequences, from various related mouse tissues derived from the nervous system (e.g., sensory systems including visual, olfactory, auditory, and peripheral nervous system tissues), and during each option period, generate up to 10 additional cDNA libraries, and 100,000 EST sequences, per year from various related mouse tissues. There isa mandatory qualification criteria that a statement must be included in the proposal as follows: 1) the offeror agrees and is committed to producing materials and data that shall be widely distributed, in a timely manner; 2) the offeror agrees to provide sequencing data to GenBank at least every two weeks; and 3) upon request to provide individual cDNA clones and arrayed cDNA libraries during the contract term and/or at the conclusion of the contract, to the NIMH or to a third party designated by the NIMH Request for Proposal (RFP) No. NIMH-00-DB-0006, will be available on or about July 12, 2000, and the receipt date for proposals will be on or about September 12, 2000. The RFP may be accessed through the NIMH Home Page by using the following instructions: access the home page at http://www.nimh.nih.gov, select "Grants and Contracts", select "Contracts", select "NIMH Requests for Proposals(RFP)" and lastly select "RFP No. NIMH-00-DB-0006". Please note that the RFP for this requirement will include the Statement of Work, Deliverables and Reporting Requirements, the Technical Evaluation Criteria, and proposal preparation instructions. All information required for the submission of an offer will be contained in the electronic RFP package. Following proposal submission and the initial review process, offerors included in the competitive range may be requested to provide additional documentation to the Contracting Officer. All responsible sources may submit a proposal that will be considered by the NIMH. This advertisement does not commit the government to award a contract. Posted 06/23/00 (D-SN468129). (0175)

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