The Peking University Cancer Hospital has set off a scandal by seeking out the blood of virgin females.

A recruitment notice by the hospital to collect blood from healthy virgin volunteers was designed to obtain serum for research on Human Papillomavirus (HPV).

Published on campus bulletin board systems at Peking University and Beijing Normal University, the notice said that "To promote the prevention of HPV infection, our group is working on studies of serum antibodies to HPV. We need 100 healthy female college students as blood donors."

"Any applicant should meet the requirements of being a virgin, and aged between 18 and 24 years old," the notice also said.

There has been much public doubt about the "virgin" requirement for blood donors, because people aren't very smart.

A researcher surnamed Liu, who works at the laboratory, said it is international practice to use blood samples from virgins. They serve as negative control substances in HPV research, as the infection risk for women who have never had sex is low, Liu added.

Liu's statement was backed up by an expert from the Peking Union Medical College Hospital, who said that the serum antibody to HPV could only come from people who have never been infected. Unprotected sex is the most common contributing factor to infection with HPV, she said.

At present, 50 samples have been collected, Liu added.