Games - T-Virus

	Games - T-Virus

In the Resident Evil video game series, the T-Virus, or Tyrant-Virus, was the second mutagenic virus developed by the Umbrella Corporation. The T-Virus was responsible for the creation of the majority of their Bio-Organic Weapons or BOWs. However, its intended purpose was to create the perfect BOW: the Tyrant. The T in T-Virus is an acronym for Tyrant, as it was designed, in the game, for death and destruction.

History

Research for the virus began in 1978 in Arklay Labs. Umbrella saw potential in the recently discovered Ebola virus that had just been found in Africa. The corporation saw limitless potential in the virus due to its nearly 90% death rate. Umbrella was very careful about its research. The Biological Weapons Convention prohibited the research and development of such things. So to get around this obstacle, Umbrella masqueraded their research, claiming they were trying to find a cure for it.

However, their research was halted. The Ebola virus proved to be unable to survive outside a human host except for only a few days due to its extreme sensitivity to ultraviolet radiation. It also killed its host too quickly, which limited the chances for the host itself to infect others. Lastly, Ebola could only infect via direct contact with others, even further limiting the chances of infection.

Umbrella researchers asked themselves: "What if a heavily-infected host could continue to still be mobile, and what if the host could continue to infect others, as well?". This idea would eventually give birth to the T-Virus.

After the development of the Progenitor virus, three men would finally succeed in the creation of the T-Virus on December 4th,1978 after combining it with leech DNA. These men were James Marcus, Albert Wesker, and William Birkin.

The T-Virus would serve as the basis of most of the other viruses developed by the Umbrella Corporation, such as the T-Veronica Virus and the NE-T Virus.

William and Albert assassinated Marcus and took his research for Umbrella. With their experimentation with the Ebola Virus, William Birkin combined the original T-Virus with the Ebola Virus to create a more suitable and dangerous virus that was used to create the Tyrants. The Progenitor virus and original T-Virus have been used for many purposes as stated above.

Effects of Infection

The T-Virus is like any other virus. It is a protein crystal with an RNA core. As the crystal makes contact with a cell's membrane, it destroys it and inserts its RNA into the cell. The cell absorbs the viral genome into its own DNA, which takes over the cell's functions. The cell begins to produce offspring of the original virus. The new viruses are then released from the host cell and infect the neighboring cells, which starts the process all over again.

What the T-Virus does is kills any living mitochondria and replaces the dead ones with itself. The virus then combines with other cells to produce energy. The energy produced is just enough to power the motor neurons and the basic lower brain functions. Not only that, but this bypasses the entire circulatory system, which makes the heart and lungs redundant systems that can be disposed of.

However, the T-Virus can only properly function by consuming the cell in order to produce its energy and to divide via mitosis to spread around the body. This slow breakdown of cells leads to the necrotizing effects seen on most BOWs. The virus also incorporates itself into the host's RNA, which substantially alters it. This is why creatures, such as bees and spiders, only have very minor mutation, such as increased size, when compared to the human mutation caused by the virus. This is due to their lower stance in the evolutionary chain.

Should the human host be alive at the time of T-Virus infection, all higher brain functions are destroyed as the virus simply dissolves away the frontal lobes. This leaves only the telencephalon, better known as the cerebrum, to govern behavior. This leaves the infected host with a very animalistic behavior. As the virus spreads, it damages the hypothalamus. This produces a massive flood of neurotransmitters, enzymes, and hormones such as norepinephrine and dopamine. These effects, combined with the painful symptoms of the infection, induces a psychotic rage, persistent hunger, and increased aggressiveness in those infected.

Should the human host be dead at the time of infection, only enough energy is produced to power the lower brain functions. These functions are responsible for the most primal instincts, such as walking and eating.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for T-Virus ]

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