Notice of Intent to Award a Sole-Source Purchase Order: Thermo Fisher (FEI Company) Vitrobot™

NIEHS requires the FEI Company (part of Thermo Fisher Scientific) Vitrobot™, a fully PC-controlled device for vitrification (rapid cooling) of cryo-EM samples. The Vitrobot fully meets NIEHS' needs for reliable automation and streamlining of the process of plunging, blotting and vitrification, allowing tight control of experimental parameters such as temperature, humidity, the number of blottings and a number of critical time settings. Compared to competing instruments that offer similar basic functions, the Vitrobot is the only instrument that offers a unique double-sided sample application and blotting. This specific feature has been demonstrated experimentally to be critical in achieving high-resolution data of protein-DNA complexes, an important and common goal among several research groups at NIEHS that utilize cryo-EM for structural analysis. Finally, NIEHS requires the Vitrobot to be installed within the Molecular Microscopy Consortium core facility and available to NIEHS researchers. To date, NIEHS researchers that require a Vitrobot have used NIEHS funds to travel, ship samples, and reserve time on Vitrobots off-site. This purchase would eliminate that waste while promoting collaborations with extramural labs requiring the specific use of a Vitrobot. Vitrobot can only be purchased from the FEI Company.