| |
| Appearance(s): | 28 Days Later (film) 28 Days Later: The Aftermath |
| Type: | Research facility |
| Location: | Cambridge |
| Status: | Abandoned |
| Filming location: | |
The Cambridge Primate Research Centre was a facility located in Cambridge which was experimenting on chimpanzees, and it was the Rage Virus' point of origin from which the Original Outbreak began.
Film canon[]
28 Days Later (film)[]
The facility was housing and experimenting on numerous caged chimpanzees that were infected with the Rage Virus, cutting some open and forcing one chimp to watch recordings of human violence. The local scientist, when attempting to explain their actions and the Virus' existence, vaguely described it as "an inhibitor" that had been given to the chimps, and he said "to cure, you must first understand".
Three animal rights activists whom were known to the scientist, but whom were themselves oblivious to the Infection's existence, broke into the Primate Research Centre looking to free the chimps. After apprehending the scientist, they freed one of the chimps, which immediately infected one of the activists before being killed, causing the Rage Virus to cross to humans. Despite the scientist attempting to kill the infected activist, she successfully infected one of her comrades and then attacked the scientist when he lost his nerve. The Infection subsequently spread outward from the facility throughout mainland Great Britain, destroying the entire country over the following twenty-eight days.
Other media[]
28 Days Later: The Aftermath[]
The Rage Virus was created when scientists Clive and Warren - whom were trying to develop an anger inhibitor with which to end domestic and urban rage worldwide - decided to test their inhibitor on chimpanzees and at least one human subject after using the Ebola Virus as a delivery system. Over the course of two weeks, isolated genomes in the Ebola Virus reacted to the inhibitor and mutated it into the Rage Virus within the infected chimps. Clive, disgusted by what he and Warren had created, quit on the spot, and he alerted the Animal Freedom Front to the inhumane animal experimentation occurring in the lab (without warning them about the Infection), leading to the break-in.
During the night of the break-in, at least two of the other infected chimps broke loose through unknown means, with one of them infecting Warren, while the other escaped into the city and proceeded to attack Liam in Cherry Hinton Hall the following day before it was killed.
Trivia[]
- In an alternate scene from 28 Days Later, the Primate Research Centre was located near the Forty-Second Blockade northeast of Manchester, in the place of the Worsley House.
- It is unknown if either the government of Britain, or the later US forces discovered the source of the Original Outbreak. In the 28 Days Later comics, a CDC scientist on the plane to Stansted with Clint Harris speculated that the Outbreak most likely originated in London, although this was incorrect.