Degenerate oligonucleotide primers were designed for in vitro amplification by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of a relatively well-conserved portion of the L1 capsid protein gene of genital human papillomaviruses. A specific 441bp fragment was amplified by PCR from genomic clones and clinical biopsy specimens containing DNA from HPV types 6, 11, 16, 18, 31, and 33, as well as from a number of other clinical specimens known to contain unclassified HPV isolates. As some HPV non-specific DNA was also often amplified, another set of degenerate primers was designed which amplified a 335 bp sequence contained within the 441 bp sequence. These nested primers could be used in a two-stage PCR reaction to obtain distinct HPV-specific DNA fragments suitable for direct sequencing. Two-stage PCR was used to demonstrate the presence of HPV DNA in 13 out of 16 biopsies, which had been classified histologically as cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), but which were negative for HPV on Southern blot hybridization. Seven of these amplification products were sequenced, and one proved to be a previously unsequenced HPV type. The results have important implications for the routine detection and typing of genital and other HPV types in clinical samples.