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One of the major plot elements of the '' Resident Evil '' series is the Outbreak of various Viruses . Typically, these viruses are the creation of the fictional Umbrella Corporation , which is attempting to use them to create Genetically Engineered soldiers, and the results of a leak have lead to mass Zombification of people and are the premise of most games. T-VIRUS incident.]] The T-virus or Tyrant virus is Umbrella’s main biological weapon, responsible for the creation of most of their BOWs. Research for it began in 1978 at the Arklay Labs. The Ebola virus had been recently discovered in Africa and was immediately spotted as a weapon with limitless potential due to its 90% death rate. Umbrella circumnavigated the Biological Weapons Prohibition Pact by pretending to be researching the virus for a cure. Research was halted due to the virus’s weaknesses. Ebola could only survive outside a human host for a few days, as it was extremely vulnerable to ultra-violet radiation. It killed its host too quickly limiting the chances of infecting others. Furthermore the virus could only be passed on by direct contact so again chances of infection were limited. But what if a heavily infected host could still move around? What if the host could actively infect people? The concept of the T-virus was born. This time the Progenitor virus was used as a base. On December 4th 1978 Dr James Marcus, Captain Albert Wesker and Dr. William Birkin succeeded in creating a new virus by mixing the Progenitor virus with leech DNA. The life cycle of a normal virus can be described through the T-bacteriophage, a virus that preys upon bacteria. The virus itself is a protein crystal with a DNA core. Once the crystal touches a bacteria's cell membrane, it dissolves and allows the viral nucleic acid to enter the cell. The cell immediately absorbs the viral genome into its own DNA. The new genes take over the cell's functions and the cell manufactures dozens of new viral crystals and DNA strings. These crystal shells combine with the new DNA copies to form new viruses; the viruses dissolve the host cell, infect neighbouring cells and begin the cycle all over again. All cell energy in the human body is created by mitochondria. The T-virus actively kills any living mitochondria and replaces the dead ones. The T-virus then combines with cells to produce energy; this energy is enough to power the motor neurones and basic lower brain functions. This bypasses the entire circulatory system and makes organs such as the heart and lungs redundant. Unfortunately the T-virus must consume the cell in order to produce this energy and to divide mitotically and spread round the body. The slow breakdown of cells leads to the necrotising effects seen on most BOWs. The virus also incorporates itself into the host’s RNA substantially altering it. It is in this way that creatures lower down the evolutionary ladder, such as insects, birds and reptiles only increase in size and have only minor mutations due to the relative simplicity of their genome structure. All infected hosts suffer from increased aggressiveness. Should the host be alive at the time of infection, higher brain functions will be destroyed as the virus dissolves the frontal lobes, leaving the animalistic cerebrum to govern behaviour. The virus damages the hypothalamus and the resulting flood of neurotransmitters, enzymes, and hormones such as norepinephrine and dopamine, combined with the painful symptoms of the infection, induces an almost psychotic rage and hunger in the victims of the T-virus. If the host is dead at the time of infection then there will only be enough energy produced to power the lower brain, which is responsible for basic instincts such as eating and walking. The virus can also travel through the bloodstream if needs be, affecting oxygen-rich tissues, such as the brain and musculature of vertebrates. Most viruses are host-specific; they can only infect a specific kind of cell, such as bacterial cells, human brain cells, or sheep liver cells. There is no known virus capable of infecting all cells; such a virus would theoretically over propagate and infect the whole ecosystem if released in an airborne form. Umbrella appears to have created such a virus. T-VERONICA VIRUS This virus was created by Alexia Ashford when she combined the T-virus with ant DNA. Direct injection causes rapid cellular mutations like the Progenitor virus. Like the Progenitor virus it can be controlled if absorbed over a long period of time. It also allows control over the hive mind of the creatures the virus was extracted from, in this case, ants. The Host in this case Alexia Ashford has tentacle like muscles wrapped around her body and can spit blood that turns into flame from 10 feet away. PROGENITOR VIRUS Also known as the Founder virus and the Mother virus, the Progenitor virus was the very first mutagenic virus ever discovered, and would serve as a base for most of Umbrella’s later viruses. It was discovered by Dr James Marcus, Dr Edward Ashford and Lord Oswell E. Spencer on December 4th 1967. Further research on it was carried out by Dr. Marcus, William Birkin and Albert Wesker. Infection causes violent uncontrolled cellular changes through the mutation of the subject’s genes. Like the T-virus this will cause most animals low down the evolutionary ladder to simply increase in size and aggressiveness, but the mutations were not coordinated enough to produce effective BOWs. In order to enhance its mutagenic properties a variant of it was created by combining it with the Ebola virus. Unfortunately the new virus had inherited Ebola’s photosensitive properties. When it was combined with leech DNA to form the T-virus this property mutated into pyrosensitivity, which can be seen to affect every single BOW ever created. NE-T VIRUS The NE-T virus has very similar properties to the T-virus, but it was designed specifically in relation to the Tyrant Project. In response to reports of the T-002’s failure, a new project was started. Its original goal was to ensure the destruction of all anti-umbrella elements, specifically STARS members. It was given the grandiose title of ‘Goddess of Vengeance’. The research team though nicknamed the project Nemesis, as they held the surviving STARS members directly responsible for the T-001 and T-002’s failure and took a certain satisfaction in working on a project designed specifically to eliminate them, and the name stuck. Research pertaining to a similar project had been started a few years ago when Umbrella researchers were looking to improve the general intelligence of BOWs. So far all T-virus created BOWs had had extremely low intelligence ratings. Umbrella needed a BOW that could understand and carry out orders. The American team led by Dr. Birkin was working on ways to increase the BOWs’ strength, whilst the European team was working on ways to increase the BOWs’ intelligence. Countless theories and ideas were traded and they first started experiments that involved directly operating on the subject’s brain. Birkin’s team succeeded in creating the T-002, which unlike the highly unstable T-001 could follow the simplest of orders such as ‘restraint’ and ‘attack’. But its intelligence was still insufficient for the BOW to operate in the field. Then a breakthrough by the European team came in the form of the NE-Alpha, an independent organism created from the NE-T virus that could affect the host’s brain. Further experiments were made, including inserting the NE-Alpha into a Hunter. It was this experiment that provided crucial data that led to the creation of the T-103. UNKNOWN VIRUS Very little is known about this virus. It was created by Dr. William Birkin for the use of Captain Albert Wesker when he faked his death in 1998. This virus increases the metabolism of a person, giving them incredible strength, speed and regenerative abilities, which is why it is believed to be a mild version of the T-virus. The test subject does not suffer from the cascade mutation effect though, meaning Birkin found a way of perfecting the replication of cells even when the body is under extreme duress. The virus also limits itself to muscle tissue and the lower organs, leaving the brain completely intact. This breakthrough means that the subject’s mind is retained and no ill effects have been noted. Unfortunately the only test-subject has violated the law with six counts of 1st degree murder, multiple counts of 2nd degree murder, attempted murder, manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, approximately 150,000 counts of corporate manslaughter, violation of international law under the Biological Weapons Prohibition Pact, conspiracy to commit genocide, bribery, blackmail and various firearms offences. It is unknown if the virus is responsible for subject’s psychotic behaviour or if the subject was naturally unstable. The virus has been exquisitely designed in the way it affects ocular tissue. The only visible effect of the virus is the way in which it affects the subject’s eyes. The only way a person could move accurately with the extreme speeds generated by the virus is by viewing the world in hundreds of frames per second, most likely in the same range as birds. In order to interact with the world with the ‘normal’ speed of a human, means viewing the world in the tens of frames per second. This means the subject can alter his vision at will, suggesting maybe even some similar properties to the T-Veronica virus. ADDITIONAL VIRUSES ''Resident Evil 2'' introduced an unrelated virus created by Umbrella, the Gene "G" Virus. This virus is created by William Birkin , a researcher for Umbrella, who injects a sample into himself after being shot by Umbrella security forces who raid his lab. Birkin turns into a giant, initially humanoid monster, which gradually morphs during the game into a giant hostile organic blob that the player must fight as the final boss. '' Resident Evil 4 '' is based on an apparently naturally-evolved agent named Las Plagas. This agent is a parasite, rather than a virus, and results in more intelligent, coordinated victims that the player must fight in place of zombies The T-Virus is also the basis for ' 's T/G Virus'''. |
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