The USDA, Agricultural Research Service, intends to enter into a single source contract with Affymetrix Inc., Santa Clara, California. This contract is to procure a Affymetrix GeneChip Instrument System (Model GCS 3000)and includes a GeneChip Scanner, GeneChip Fluidics Station, GeneChip Workstation, GeneChip Hybridization Oven, an Academic Core Lab Program which includes the basic server software package for data acquisition and analyses, and a GeneChip LIMS Server. This system will be used in genotyping and quantifying both genetic diversity and biodiversity in grass improvement efforts. Affymetrix has the only known barley chip and will soon have a wheat chip available, which are necessary to conduct research on stress related traits in other Triticeae grasses. This technology was developed in cooperative efforts with scientists from institutions including Agricultural Research Service. This system is covered by more than 20 patents covering such unique technology as high-density probe arrays and chip scanning capabilities, as well as data mining and bioinformatics databases.

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