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The β strain was an early variant of the t-Virus developed by the research staff at the Arklay Laboratory in the early 1980s as a progression from the earlier α strain.
History[]
The β strain was created to address an issue discovered with Umbrella's earlier α strain of the t-Virus. The problem with the α strain was that while it had a 90% fatality rate among the infected, making it an effective bioweapon, the virus had difficulty spreading from person to person. Most hosts would simply die from the virus instead of transforming into zombies and further spreading the disease beyond the initial infection. To overcome this flaw, Dr. William Birkin, who had been transferred to a senior position at the Arklay Laboratory in the summer of 1978, began incorporating RNA from the Ebola Virus into the t-Virus genome. The aim was to increase the virus's transmissibility and enable infected hosts to transform into zombies instead of succumbing to immediate death. The resulting β strain successfully created zombies, but it was discovered that approximately 10% of the population was naturally immune to this viral strain. Although they could still carry the virus, they were unable to transform into zombies.
To address this 10% immunity and develop mutants more suitable for military purposes, the β strain was utilized in experiments such as the Cerberus Project, which explored the use of canine Bio Organic Weapons for military sale. Additionally, a modified version of the β strain, known as β II (Beta 2), was used as a bonding agent in the Hunter Project. This project aimed to create entirely new creatures by splicing genomes together, which would then be deployed to eliminate the 10% of the population that was naturally immune to the β strain. The Hunter prototype proved successful, leading to the cloning of the Hunter to ensure the uniformity of subsequent Hunter creations.
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