Public awareness and knowledge of the National Health Insurance in South Africa.

Introduction: Individuals residing in Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape provinces who had access to public health services were surveyed to determine public knowledge and awareness of the new National Health Insurance (NHI).

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted and a total of 748 adult respondents were sampled using a two-stage systematic sampling design. Data were collected using mobile phone assisted personal interviews.

Metagenomic gene discovery: past, present and future.

It is now widely accepted that the application of standard microbiological methods for the recovery of microorganisms from the environment has had limited success in providing access to the true extent of microbial biodiversity. It follows that much of the extant microbial genetic diversity (collectively termed the metagenome) remains unexploited, an issue of considerable relevance to a wider understanding of microbial communities and of considerable importance to the biotechnology industry. The recent development of technologies designed to access this wealth of genetic information through environmental nucleic acid extraction has provided a means of avoiding the limitations of culture-dependent genetic exploitation.