Abstract: A replicon for delivery of a transgene for episomal gene expression in a mammalian host cell includes a transgene having an open reading frame or other nucleic acid sequence for transcription into RNA and under the transcriptional control of a first surrogate promoter and a first gene sequence expressing a papillomavirus replication initiator protein E1 tinder tile control of a second surrogate promoter. The replicon also includes second gene sequence expressing the papillomavirus replication origin binding protein E2 under the control of a third surrogate promoter, wherein tile transgene, the first and the second sequences are incorporated within at least one plasmid and less than three plasmids.

Abstract: The presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in a sample can be detected and the HPV typed by a method that involves the amplification of HPV DNA sequences by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The primers used in the method are consensus primers that can be used to amplify a particular region of the genome of any HPV. The presence of HPV in a sample is indicated by the formation of amplified DNA. The HPV is typed by the use of type-specific DNA probes specific for the amplified region of DNA.