THIS IS A SOURCES SOUGHT NOTICE ONLY and a SOLICITATION IS NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE. This notice is for information and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation or an obligation on the part of the Government. This request for capability information does not constitute a request for proposals. Submission of any information in response to this market survey is purely voluntary. The government assumes no financial responsibility for any costs incurred associated to this request for capability information.

USDA, ARS, NADC is seeking a contractor to provide a MiSeq Integrated System. BRAND NAME EQUAL or better makes will be accepted for consideration, provided the following must-have minimum characteristics are met:

1) Compatible with existing Illumina HiSeq 2500 instrumentation and library preparation methods, including TruSeq (synthesis chemistry), and able to verify library performance before use through the HiSeq 2500
2) Integrate clonal amplification, sequencing, and data analysis (base calling, alignment, variant calling/reporting)
3) Employ touchscreen user interface, RFID tracking of consumables, pre-mixed/-filled integrated reagent cartridges
4) Support DNA sequencing (single-/paired-end, mate-pairs reading), resequencing, amplicon sequencing, small genome de novo sequencing, small RNA sequencing, and small genome (<5 Megabase) transcriptome sequencing
5) Read 1x36 to 2x250 basepairs
6) Sample multiplexing
7) Produce up to 7.5 Gigabases per run
8) No more than 28" length x 23" width x 21" height dimensions, less than 130 pounds
9) Operate on 120-240VAC at 50/60Hz, 10A, 400W electricity
10) Utilize a Windows 7 based computer, with 2GB more RAM than required for out of the box instrument control, image processing, alignment, and variant calling (within 3 hours of run completion) to allow possible future enhancements/upgrades. Instrument control software must utilize a push-button graphical user interface, and allow on-instrument data analysis (alignment, variant calling using industry standard BWA/GATK). Analysis solutions should include resequencing, amplicon sequencing, small genome de novo sequencing, small RNA sequencing, library quality control, and small genome (<5 Megabase) transcriptome sequencing. Software should produce fastq, bam, vcf, and txt formatted files to maximize 3rd party downstream software compatibility. Reports should be viewable in Windows, Macintosh, and Linux environments, and no separate computer hardware should be required.

This sources sought request is being used as a means of conducting market research to identify parties having an interest in and the resources to provide the product(s) required. The result of this market research will contribute to determining whether there are adequate sources available from which to receive competitive proposals.

The applicable North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code to be assigned to this procurement is 334516.

Submission Instructions: Interested Businesses, with active SAM records (www.sam.gov), who consider themselves qualified to provide the listed product(s) are invited to submit a response to this Sources Sought notice by 8:00 AM (Central Time) May 31, 2013. If your organization has the appropriate qualifications and capacity to provide a qualifying product(s), please provide a complete and current record of your Single Award Management (SAM) listing including DUNS number, Organization name, address, contact name, email address, Web site address, telephone number, type of organization, small business type (if any), etc. to the point of contact below.

Potential sources only submit the minimum information necessary and no more than ten (10) pages. The SAM record does not count toward the 10 page maximum.

All questions or responses under this Sources Sought notice shall be sent to Matthew Treska, Purchasing Agent via email [email protected], fax 515-337-7247, or mail USDA-ARS-NADC, 1920 Dayton Ave., Ames, IA 50010. All communication shall be in writing referencing AG-6125-SS-13-0004 (preferably by email). No information will be taken by telephone.

THIS IS A NOTICE FOR SOURCES SOUGHT. No feedback or evaluations will be provided to companies regarding their submissions. However, sources may be contacted to gather additional information as required.

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