Please note: This is a Sole Source Notification. Promega Corporation provides all the chemical reagents and consumables for the DNA and DNA Database Units. Each chemical and reagent in the DNA unit are highly specialized and produced specifically for a purpose in the DNA process. There are specific specialty reagents for DNA extraction (DNA IQ), DNA quantitation (Plexor HY) and DNA amplification (PowerPlex16 HS). We will also begin validating the new Promega “Fusion” amplification kit because the FBI has increased the number of genetic markers we are required to report. The reagent kits that are manufactured by Promega Corporation are subject to years of developmental validation by the corporation to work on a specific piece of equipment for a specific purpose in the DNA extraction, quantitation, amplification, or capillary electrophoresis process. The manufacturer invests millions of dollars on each validation to ensure that the product produces reliable and reproducible DNA results. These are not in any way chemicals that you can buy from a chemical company or general supplier, they are specialized biochemical mixtures that are only produced by this manufacturer. In addition, the FBI must approve of each kit used in the DNA process. The FBI goes through a very thorough approval process and the limitations and abilities of each kit are well known to the laboratory for decision making purposes. Promega Corporation is the sole distributor for their products. When ISPFS evaluates a kit to work in the DNA process, we initially evaluate all the products that could potentially meet the objective and determine what the abilities and limitations are for each manufacturer and product. Any kit that could potentially meet the need is evaluated on technical merit and quality considerations.
