Common use of TECHNICAL TASKS Clause in Contracts

TECHNICAL TASKS. Phase Task Description Start Duration Month (Months) I Development of molecular biology protocols. 1 Nucleic acid probe design. Optimal E. coli and lambda 1 1 nucleic acid sequences will be determined for maximum specificity. 2 Optimization of protocols for labeled nucleotide 2 6 incorporation by polymerize target extension. Labeled oligonucleotides complementary to nucleic acid targets will be synthesized by enzymatic extension reactions. Optimal conditions for fluorescent report synthesis will be determined. 3 Optimization of sample preparation protocols. 8 3 Experiments will be performed to determine the optimal conditions for sample preparation. Various parameters such as buffer composition, extraction procedures, and hybridization conditions will be evaluated. Targets will consist of low levels of E. coli genomic DNA. Effects of interferants usually present in food samples will be evaluated. 4 Demonstration of the detection of specific sequences of 11 2 bacterial contaminants. The detection system currently in operation at LANL will be modified to perform experiments on the detection of specific sequences of bacterial contaminants. Increasingly diluted samples of E. coli genomic DNA will be analyzed. Limits of detection are expected to lie in the femtomolar (10-15 M) range. II Design and construction of a prototype instrument for the 13 detection of low levels of E. coli. 1