Advancement in molecular research has been instrumental in identifying viral DNA in association with GTFP [green turtle fibropapilloma], as illustrated by Klein et al. (1998). Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), they determined that a herpesvirus was present in 95% of all examined specimens of free-ranging C. mydas and C. caretta in Florida, and in C. mydas of Hawaiian origin. Quackenbush et al. (2001) used quantitative real-time PCR to quantify viral pol DNA loads in tumored and non-tumored affected tissues of C. mydas, C. caretta, and Lepidochelys olivacea from the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Pacific coasts.