A laboratory is a place where evil scientists hang out so they can erect elaborate equipment designs with Tesla coils and laugh maniacally as arcs of energy spark about the room.
Types of laboratories[]
- Isolation laboratory: Isolation laboratories are special containment facilities that utilize strict quarantine procedures to scan and filter out infectious diseases and harmful radiation. They are sometimes referred to as Isolabs for short. Such facilities are commonly found at Centers for Disease Control.
- Medical laboratory: A medical laboratory is a facility staffed by trained professionals for the treatment of patients and the study of infectious diseases. Medical laboratories may exist as either independent institutions or associated with larger medical treatment centers such as hospitals and clinics. Pharmaceutical companies and other R&D firms will usually own one or more medical laboratories, though these labs are almost always a detached facility and not part of the company's corporate headquarters. Many science fiction stories deal with themes relating to medical science.
Examples[]
- Dark Angel: The TV series Dark Angel featured a top-secret facility called Manticore, which conducted experiments with children, altering their DNA, and enhancing their physical and mental attributes, often splicing their genetic sequence with animal traits in order to cultivate the perfect soldier. Manticore was run by a man named Donald Lydecker.
- DC Comics: In the continuity of DC Comics comic books and its related multimedia works, the august scientific minds may be found at S.T.A.R. Labs. It is the preeminent scientific analysis laboratory of the DC Universe and has been featured in many of DC's licensed works. It first appeared in Superman, Volume 1 #246, cover-dated December, 1971. It was created by writer Cary Bates and artist Rich Buckler. The acronym stands for Scientific and Technological Advanced Research Labs, though it is also often spelled without the acronym, STAR Labs. S.T.A.R. was founded by a scientist named Robert Meersman, who wanted a nationwide chain of research laboratories unconnected to the government or any business interests. He succeeded not only on a national scale, but an international one as well: S.T.A.R. Labs currently maintains facilities in Canada, Europe, Australia, and Japan as well as in the United States, with the total number of facilities numbering between twenty and thirty at last recorded count. Another laboratory of note in the DC Universe is Project Camdus. Project Cadmus is a scientific research center located just outside of Metropolis. It is primarily known for its achievements in genetic engineering and it's human cloning capabilities. Its notable creations include the Golden Guardian (a clone of the original Guardian) and Dubbilex, a DNAlien telepath who resembled a tall grey alien with horns.
- Man from Atlantis: The TV series Man from Atlantis featured a laboratory complex known as the Foundation for Oceanic Research. The purview of the Foundation was to conduct top-secret, government sanctioned research on life beneath the sea. It's employees included administrator C.W. Crawford and scientist Doctor Elizabeth Merrill. Without question, the Foundation's greatest find was the amnesiac amphibious man who has since become referred to as the "Man from Atlantis". At a loss for a real name, Doctor Merrill provided him with the human name of Mark Harris. Crawford, Merrill and Harris explored the depths of the oceans in a sophisticated submarine dubbed the Cetacean. Some of the foundation's more notorious adversaries included the criminal mastermind Doctor Schubert and the modern-day pirate Lars Skørba.
- Marvel Comics: There are many laboratory facilities featured in titles published by Marvel Comics, not the least of which include laboratories owned by Stark Industries. Another laboratory is Cybertek, which has also been featured on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and played a key role in season one of the series. Cybertek's operations facility was located in New Mexico. Cybertek was contracted by HYDRA to create super-soldiers. Cybertek scientists used technology developed by the Centipede Program and turned former Extremis subject Mike Peterson into a killer cyborg soldier that they could control. This soldier was code-named Deathlok. Like most reluctant employees of Cybertek, Peterson's loyalty was assured by the fact that the company kidnapped a beloved family member and held him captive, threatening violence unless Deathlok complied with their initiatives. Three of the personnel known to work for Cybertek from the series was supervisor Kyle Zeller, a new-hire named Jesse Fletcher and a computer operator named Sally.
- Resident Evil: The Umbrella Corporation conducts clan destine bio-chemical experiments in a secret laboratory underneath a mansion in the Arklay Mountains. Members of the S.T.A.R.S. Alpha team discovers the laboratory and face off against a monster known as the Tyrant. While rescuing other members of the team, the survivors set off a self-destruct sequence in the hopes of destroying Umbrella's experiments and the horrors they created.
- Star Trek: Regula 1 was an orbital space station and laboratory research center in orbit around the planet Regula in the Mutara Nebula. It was manned by a geological science team led by Doctor Carol Marcus and her son David Marcus on a top secret program for the Federation called Project Genesis. A few of Marcus' research assistants included Jedda, March and Madison. When the Augment known as Khan Noonien Singh took control of the USS Reliant, he brainwashed Captain Clark Terrell into establishing contact with Regula 1 and issuing false orders that they are to surrender all of their research regarding Project Genesis. Enraged, Doctor Marcus contacted her old lover, Admiral James T. Kirk in the hopes of setting things right.
Laboratories of note[]
Appearances[]
Films[]
- Human Vapor, The - Doctor Sano's laboratory.
Comics[]
- Amazing Fantasy Vol 2 17 - Michael Morbius' laboratory in flashback.
- Batman 308 - Mister Freeze's laboratory.
- Captain Britain 1 - Darkmoor Energy Research Centre.
- Daredevil 22 - Masked Marauder's New York laboratory lair.
- Detective Comics 400 - Kirk Langstrom's laboratory.
- Flash 105 - Barry Allen's laboratory.
- Flash Vol 2 134 - Garrick Laboratories.
- Miss America 2 - Dalt Kendall's laboratory.
- Nova 23 - Doctor Sun's laboratory.
- Spider-Man: Maximum Clonage: Alpha - Genetech Research Facility.
- Tales to Astonish 72 - The Leader's laboratory in Rome.
- Tomb of Dracula 40 - Doctor Sun's laboratory.
Television[]
- Doctor Who: Arachnids in the UK - Jade McIntyre's laboratory.