Professor Steinberg explains that HPVs are a family of related viruses, and they're small DNA tumor viruses that can cause tumors in either their natural host or another organism.

Bettie Steinberg, Ph.D., talks about HPV and its prevalence among the population. “O.K. HPVs are a family of related viruses. They're in a group called the small DNA tumor viruses, which means they have DNA inside the virus and they can cause tumors in either their natural host or another organism. The HPVs are human papilloma viruses. There are more than a hundred different types and they are extremely common. Some of the types cause skin warts, or plantar warts. Other types infect the mucus membranes and they cause things like genital warts and genital tract infections. They are extremely common. Everybody has these viruses. We have them in our skin and and we have them in our mucus membranes. They live with us. And the estimate is that at least 70% of women will have an HPV infection of the genital tract, primarily the cervix at some time, during their life.”

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