Sequencing Reagents

National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center (ARC) is hereby soliciting information under this Request for Information (RFI) to determine whether or not there are interested and available vendor sources capable of meeting the identified requirements. This document is for information and planning purposes only to allow industry the opportunity to verify reasonableness and feasibility of the requirement, as well as promote competition. The NASA GeneLab is a Space Life and Physical Sciences Research and Applications (SLPSRA) effort to increase the utility and volume of omics data (transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and genomics) generated from biological spaceflight experiments. The GeneLab project accomplishes this in two ways: 1) by maintaining an open access repository of spaceflight relevant omics data to maximize its use; and 2) by generating additional omics data from unused spaceflight material. GeneLab is focusing on generating: A) Stranded total RNA-sequencing data B) Whole Genome Sequencing of bacterial DNA GeneLab seeks to procure reagents capable of generating ribo-depleted stranded total RNA-sequencing libraries from mammalian samples, reagents capable of generated whole genome sequencing libraries from murine fecal samples, sequencing reagents as well as an additional small-scale sequencer to expedite the data generation process. Generating these datasets requires reagents capable of generating RNA-seq and metagenomic libraries, performing pilot sequencing for QC, and performing production sequencing. GeneLab plans to procure the following items: Seven (7) - Kitted Reagents for up to 300 cycles of sequencing on 5 million clusters Seven (7) - Kitted Reagents for up to 300 cycles of sequencing on 10 billion clusters Five (5) - Kitted Reagents for up to 500 cycles of sequencing on 700 million clusters Twelve (12) - Kitted Reagents to generate stranded and ribodepleted (rRNA and mtrRNA from Human, Mouse, Rat) sequencing libraries from 96 samples. Five (5) - Kitted Reagents to support the preparation of 96 libraries for DNA whole genome sequencing. One (1) - Set of DNA adapters with 384 unique dual indexes sufficient for generating 384 unique libraries (or collection of sets with 384 unique dual indexes sufficient for generating 384 unique libraries) One (1) - Next Generation benchtop sequencer equipped with on-board bioinformatics capabilities and capable of generating 5 M sequencing reads and including a hardware support plan for 36 months. The reagents must meet the following technical requirements: a. Be capable of generating stranded total RNA sequencing libraries from 1036(+10% excess) RNA samples extracted from various mammalian tissues. Additionally, these RNA-seq libraries must meet these requirements: a. Be compatible with sequencing on a NovaSeq6000. b. Be compatible with the Integrated DNA Technologies xGen Dual Index UMI Adapters. c. Must deplete both cytosolic and mitochondrial ribosomal RNA. d. Must be compatible with existing GeneLab SOPs and workflows b. Be capable of generating sequencing libraries from 432 DNA samples (+10% excess) extracted from mammalian feces. The libraries need to be of good quality, w/o contamination and of sufficient quantity for sequencing on an iSeq 100 and Novaseq 6000. They must be compatible with existing GeneLab SOPs and workflows. c. GeneLab requires reagents to perform paired end 148bp sequencing on an Illumina iSeq on twenty eight (28) pools of dual indexed, UMI tagged, pooled libraries at a depth of 4 million reads per pool. d. GeneLab requires reagents to perform paired end 148bp sequencing on an Illumina Novaseq 6000 on seven dual indexed, UMI tagged, balanced library pools of ~120 samples at a minimum depth of 65 million reads per sample. e. GeneLab requires reagents to perform paired end 250bp sequencing on an Illumina Novaseq 6000 on five (5) pools of dual indexed, UMI tagged, balanced and pooled libraries of ~80 samples at a minimum depth of 10 million reads per sample. f. GeneLab requires additional iSeq 100 sequencer to expedite data generation process, iSeq 100 is required to be covered by Advance Support plan for 48 months from the date of purchase. The reagents shall be delivered within 30 days after the award of the contract. The Government intends to acquire a commercial item using procedures identified in FAR Part 12. NASA is seeking capabilities from large and all categories of small businesses and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU)/Minority Institutions (MI). Interested organizations having the necessary capabilities to meet the identified requirements may submit their capabilities and qualifications in writing to the identified point of contact not later than the stated time. Submissions shall be made the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website (www.fbo.gov). Such capabilities/qualifications will be evaluated solely for the purpose of determining whether or not to conduct this procurement on a competitive basis. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed effort on a full and open competition basis, based upon responses to this notice, is solely within the discretion of the Government. Responses to this RFI should address the following: (1) Organization/Company Info: a. Name and address of firm, b. Cage Code and DUNS Number (if available), c. Points of contact name(s) with phone number(s) and email address(es), d. Website (if applicable), and name of parent organization (if applicable), e. Business size (Based on NAICS code) and/or Socioeconomic designation (i.e., large, small, SDB, WOSB, VOSB, SDVOSB, HUBZone), f. Whether the firm is under a GSA Schedule Contract for this product (based on the above and below technical specifications identified in this announcement). Please provide contract number if applicable. (2) Technical: a. Organizations having the capabilities necessary to meet or exceed the stated requirements are invited to submit appropriate documentation, descriptive literature, brochures, and references necessary to demonstrate the required technical capability. b. Responses shall include information on the standard delivery time, set-up, training, technical/maintenance support. Submissions shall be compatible with and accessible using Microsoft Office or Adobe Acrobat software applications. When responding, reference RFQ 80ARC019Q0014. Documents and attachments should be in Microsoft WORD, POWERPOINT, or PDF format. Submissions should not be greater than 10 pages (no less than 10 point font except in figure captions). All information received in response to this RFI that is marked "Proprietary" will be handled and protected accordingly. As applicable, NASA may provide proprietary information to its support service contractors who are under an obligation to keep third-party proprietary information in confidence. By submitting a response to this RFI, the responder is deemed to have consented to release of proprietary information to such NASA support service contractors. This RFI is subject to review or cancellation at any time and is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to enter into a contract. The Government will not pay for the information submitted in response to this request and respondents will not be notified of the results. This announcement does not constitute a Request for Proposal. Please do not request for a copy of the solicitation, as no solicitation exists at this time. If a firm requirement is developed and a competitive solicitation is issued, the solicitation will be made available on the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) website (www.fbo.gov). It is the responsibility of offeror's and interested parties to monitor the Internet site for the release of the solicitation and amendments, if any and will be responsible for downloading their own copy of the documents. NASA Clause 1852.215-84, Ombudsman, is applicable. Information about major upcoming ARC procurement actions is available at https://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/procurement/forecast/.