Patent ID: 7355034

Claim:
A hybridization assay probe for use in determining the presence of HPV Type 18 nucleic acid in a sample, wherein the base sequence of said probe is up to 100 bases in length and consists of a target binding region having no more than a 10% base difference with a base sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:45, SEQ ID NO:46, SEQ ID NO:47 and SEQ ID NO:48 and, optionally, additional nucleotides that are non-complementary to a nucleic acid derived from HPV Type 18 adjacent the complement of said target binding region, wherein said probe forms a detectable probe:target duplex with a target nucleic acid sequence derived from HPV Type 18 under selective stringency hybridization conditions, and wherein said probe does not form a detectable probe:non-target duplex with nucleic acid from HPV Type 16 under said conditions.