A vampire is a mutated human infected with a mutagenic retrovirus named Hematic anthropophagia. Due to an anemia caused by genetic damage from the virus, vampires must feed on the blood of uninfected humans. They are known to mainly bite a victim's neck, extracting the blood from the carotid artery. Vampires are also known for their enhanced physical capabilities, longevity, and lethal reaction to sunlight.
In 1616, Italian scientist Ludovico Fatinelli published his Treatise on Vampires, in which he speculated that vampirism was caused by a microscopic pathogen. He was burned at the stake for heresy. Fortunately, science plowed ahead, undeterred. The information included in this article is the result of the work of countless dedicated men and women.
Pathology
The virus for vampirism, Hematic anthropophagia, is a very old and well evolved symbiotic retrovirus which benefits it's host in many ways rather than killing it. Newer virus like the Ebola virus show their lack of adaptation in the fact that they destroy their hosts thereby running the risk of destroying themselves. A successful virus seeks symbiosis with it's host, not destruction.
Hematic anthropophagia in many ways resembles a very primitive virus called a prion. Most viri cause disease by infiltrating the host's systems then attacking specific cells and replacing the DNA of the cell with a copy of their own thus creating more viri which then attack more cells and so on. The body of the host then recognizes these infected cells as foreign matter and the immune system works to eradicate them. The Hematic anthropophagia virus works in much the same way except that the virus attacks nearly all of the hosts systems and works to adapt rather than change the DNA within the cells, adding extra 'mini-chromosomes' called plasmids to the human DNA rather than replacing it completely. This has two effects. Firstly, it means that the host's immune system is partly fooled into believing that the adapted cells are still normal and are less aggressive in their removal of them, giving the virus more time to spread through out the body's systems. Secondly it means that the individual stays human in appearance, the new DNA only serving to enhance the existing structure rather than change it completely.
Biology
During the transition from human to vampire an individual undergoes neurophysical, anatomical and genetic transformations. A person who comes out of a vampiric coma fully transformed will have undergone a number of major physiological changes affecting the various systems of the body. The information included below is only an overview; for a more detailed account, try two classic texts: Henry Gray's Anatomy of the Vampire and Vesalius' Five Books on the Structure of the Vampire Body.
Vampire have increased strength, speed and stamina as the result of an increased level of natural hormones similar to anabolic steroids, as well as altered epinephrine (adrenalin) and norepinephrine levels. They can be killed in all the same ways that a human can with the exception of disease and some poisons. The misconception that vampires can not be killed by conventional means stems from their greater pain threshold, their considerable strength and the fact that their blood clots much faster and wounds knit at an accelerated rate. A bullet in the chest (missing the heart) will often kill a human just from the shock and blood loss, whereas a vampire would be able to keep going whilst the wound is sealed with a clot to prevent bleeding to death.
Vampires enjoy a more efficient metabolism than most humans. Because of this, their bodies are able to perform more efficiently too. Vampires are the very model of good health. They have low cholesterol and blood pressure and no heart disease. There has never been a reported case of a vampire having cancer.
The high fever during infection and the genetic transformation process during the vampiric coma causes the gonads of vampires to be rendered nonfunctional. As a result, vampires are universally sterile.
During the change from a human to a vampire, functional changes to certain genes terminates all production of red blood cells. Fortunately for vampires, physical modifications enable them to receive blood transfusions by merely ingesting blood. A modified immune system allows them to accept any blood type.
Along with the plasmids, a memory RNA is transcribed by Hematic anthropophagia that causes the formation of a specific engram within the area of the brain responsible for the sensation of hunger. As a result of the engram, vampires instintively have a hunger for human blood instead of food.
Due to a functionally restructured stomach, vampires absorb the blood directly into the bloodstream with a form of absorption in the inner tissues of the body via the restructured stomach lining instead of actually going thought the process of digestion that would brake the blood down. Vampires must periodically drink small amounts of human blood to replace functioning cells. Animal blood is of no use because it would be rejected by the immune system and therefore its red blood cells would be destroyed. The modifications to the stomach also include anticoagulants that stop blood from curdling, thereby preventing any emetic effects from ingesting blood.
Because of the altered stomach vampires are incapable of eating food, vomiting it up almost instantly. Fortunately for vampires, Hematic anthropophagia causes the efficiency of all metabolic functions to be altered and enhanced to such an astonishing degree that vampires require far less nutrients than uninfected humans. As a result of this, even the minimal amount of iron, carbohydrates, fats, glucose, amino acids/proteins, and vitamins contained within human blood is actually enough to easily meet the nutritional needs of a vampire. A modified circulatory system and metabolism allows the body of a vampire to use these substances without them going through the process of digestion. Therefore, vampires are able to survive solely on a diet of human blood.
Along with the blood drinking instinct, the introduction of Hematic anthropophagia DNA in to the host makeup produces a number of other effects in the brain. Blood flow to various areas of the brain is increased and the production of certain neurotransmitters is stimulated. The areas most affected are the amygdala and the visual cortex (the areas around the brain stem and outer-back of the brain). The amygdala is the most primitive part of the brain, linked mainly with the powerful fight-or-flight reflex. A vampire will suffer increased aggression and reactions, particularly to physically threatening situations. Arousal of a combative nature will have a greater effect. There is also personality changes and mood swings since overriding the more powerful instincts become harder.
The size of the corpus callosum increases by ten percent. This enables high-speed broadband communication between hemispheres. Their motor neuron nerve axons become almost twice as thick, which gives vampires faster signal transmission and faster reflexes than humans. Vampires also have enhanced intelligence because of an increased the potency of neurotransmitters involved in memory and cognition. Another neurotransmitter, dopamine induces feelings of well-being. In vampires, it is released during feeding and has a narcotic-like effect. Neural pathways activated in vampires during feeding are much like those found in addicts when using drugs.
Synaptic interconnections between the anterior cingulate gyrus and the rest of the brain become much lower than normal, partially isolating the core of the brain from the neocortex. Since the anterior cingulate gyrus's ventral area is related to emotional cognition, vampires have a highly diminished conscience, capacity for moral comprehension and empathy for their fellow beings; they are all clinically sociopathic.
Powerful sense organs give vampires an advantage both in hunting and eluding capture. In vampires, Tapetum lucidum enhances night-vision by increasing the reflectivity of the retina; vampires also have quadrochromatic vision; while humans have only three types of cones in our eye vampires have four, the fourth being tuned to near-infrared. While these modifications give vampires excellent nightvision, it renders them effectively blind in daylight. Sunlight will cause neural pathways to fire randomly in the vampire brain, causing an extreme epileptic seizure.
Both the senses of smell and hearing are extremely acute, as vampires have double the receptor cells in their noses and ears compared to humans. In fact, vampires usually smell or hear a person coming long before they see one.
Transmission
Although the tiny dose of virus present in the saliva that passes during a feeding is usually insufficient to infect a healthy human, if enough blood is withdrawn to severely weaken a victim's immune system, they will be infected with Hematic anthropophagia. If a victim's immune system is weakened by numerous feedings by a vampire, they will eventually be infected as well. Five or six feedings within a thirty day period is usually enough. If the victim's blood loss is not severe enough to discernibly compromise the immune response (which is usually the case), the virus is easily dealt with by the immune system and eradicated.
Within hours of being bitten to the point of being infected, the victim develops a headache, fever, chills and other flu-like symptoms as the body tries to fight off the infection. This stage generally lasts between six and twelve hours.
Within 24 hours of being infected, the victim will slip into a vampiric coma. During this phase, the pulse slows, breathing is shallow and the pupils are dilated. The large numbers of people mistakenly buried alive while in vampiric comas gave rise to the myth that vampires sleep in coffins. Only a small percentage of people survive vampiric comas. Generally, the young, the old and the feeble never come out of their vampiric comas and eventually die. The vast majority of people who survive vampiric comas are males between the ages of 18 to 35. Vampiric comas last about a day; the victim usually comes out of the coma the night after its onset.
A bite victim who survives the coma will awaken fully transformed into a vampire. An acclimation period follows, characterized by confusion, despondency and paranoia. Most vampires begin to hunt within 24 hours of transformation.
Longevity
While no vampire on record has ever died of natural causes, vampires do undergo an aging process, just not in the same way as humans. Vampires do not age on a molecular/genetic level, but their life of hunting and eluding capture creates tremendous wear and tear in the form of injuries to bones and tissue.
Because they presented such a danger to society, most vampires were destroyed long before the outer limits of their life span were determined. Ancient history offers some clues, however. In Ancient China, there was said to be one vampire in the emperor's court through the entire (eastern) Zhou Dynasty, which would put his age at 550. More accurate modern records have certified vampires of over 200 years old.
Vampiric longevity is the result of an ability to ward off both the DNA damage that occurs during cell division in normal humans and ionization damage to DNA. Specifically, the protective caps on the ends of chromosomes known as telomeres get chewed up over time in humans, but not in vampires. The Hematic anthropophagia plasmids switch on the gene which controls the production of telomerase (an enzyme that rejuvenates telomeres) and boosts its effectiveness with a version of its own in the packet of genetic material that fuses with the host's chromosomes. Genetic alterations also result in a biochemistry that completely protects the cells from ionization damage to DNA caused mainly by natural oxidation, primarily free radicals. So as a vampire lives, cell division can continue indefinitely allowing cell damage to be repaired effectively leading to the cessation of aging at the point of the vampiric coma.
Demographics and Life Expectancy
The vast majority (about 80 percent) of vampires are males who were between the ages of 18 and 35 upon transformation. Another 10 percent are females between the ages of 15 and 35 upon transformation. The remaining 10 percent are males and females slightly outside the 15 to 35 age range upon transformation. The racial and ethnic makeup of a pack will generally mirror that of the local populace.
Despite the fact that they do not age on a cellular level, vampire mortality rates have always been high. In 1850, a newly transformed vampire could expect to live 10 years on average. By 1950, that number had dropped to 5 years. Today that number is only 2 years. The leading causes of death have also changed with the times. In the Middle Ages, vampiricide, or murder by other vampires, was the leading cause of death. By 1930, vampire hunters had become the number one killer.
Sociology
Vampire behavior resembles our own in more ways than we might imagine. By conducting extensive interviews with vampires, along with observing their behavior in the wild, scientists have been able to arrive to a reasonable understanding of their world.
The first few days after coming out of a vampiric coma are especially difficult for a vampire. A newly transformed vampire awakens disoriented, its judgment clouded by competing impulses and memories of its previous life. But all those are drowned out by a fierce, intense desire for blood. This urge for blood eventually snaps a vampire into focus, and it sets about finding a way to fill that urge.
Though lone vampires are not uncommon, most vampires find it advantageous to either join an existing hunting pack or create one of their own. Each path has its own advantages. Joining an existing pack offers security, access to blood and protection from other packs. However, new members are low in the pecking order and are often forced to put themselves in dangerous positions, such as on advance scouting missions. In addition, new members of a pack are the last to feed, if they get to feed at all. Vampires possessing natural leadership skills may find it better to hunt on their own and eventually bring some of their victims into the fold.
With vampires unable to reproduce, the hunting pack is the family unit of their life. In a successful pack, each vampire has its role, and there is little dissension. A typical pack is made up of four vampires, with one Alpha Vampire and three underlings. Four seems to be the ideal number for a hunting pack: any more than that, not everyone always gets a chance to feed; any less and the hunting becomes appreciably riskier. Of course, in the distant past, when vampire control was in a more primitive state, large vampire armies rose up and spread by overwhelming entire towns.
Vampires are capable of developing loyalties and behaving selflessly in the name of the pack. However, the pack is the only area of their lives in which they are not mercenary.
Vampires packs are meritocracies, not democracies. There are no elections, no "show of hands" in a vampire pack. The most capable hunter and leader runs the show, and the others follow. The Alpha Vampire coordinates hunting strategy, gives assignments and makes all final decisions. There are perks to the job. During hunting, the Alpha generally hangs back in a less risky position. Yet when a victim is seized, the Alpha drinks first. But the job has its perils too. For one, the Alpha has the difficult task of choosing replacements for fallen pack mates. In this, it must walk a fine line. While the Alpha must be stronger than its fellow pack-mates, it cannot afford to carry weak, ineffectual hunters in the pack. But stronger pack mates can rise up and become a threat to its position.
Like virtually all mammals, vampires assert their dominance through display behavior and fighting. Vampires hiss, bare their teeth and showcase their prodigious leaping ability to try and intimidate rivals. Physical size and power are important but by no means the only determinant of Alpha status. In fact, intellectual capacity is more important than physical prowess in determining success and longevity as a vampire.
While Alpha Vampires would seem to be in an enviable position, they actually have a higher mortality rate than non-Alphas. Each new challenge to an Alpha Vampire from within the pack takes its toll. Injuries pile up, including many of the permanently disabling variety. Vampires can lose an eye, have flesh torn off and break bones. Older vampires are far from the dashing, handsome types so often seen in movies. An older vampire is likely to be heavily scarred, with parts of its face missing. The ultimate fate of the Alpha Vampire is a grim one: cast out of the safety of the pack, no longer able to fight, the once powerful vampire is reduced to a solitary existence. Eventually, the Alpha succumbs to malnourishment or the weapons of vampire hunters.
When a recently transformed vampire joins a pack, it is usually taken under the wing of an elder, who helps the fledgling learn how to hunt. While some packs have no patience with slow learners, most fledglings are given a little bit of time to get up to speed. However, an unusually quick-learner is perceived as a threat and may be destroyed by the Alpha. Fledglings with ambition learn to keep a low profile and hide their agenda until the time is right.
Vampires will utilize all at their disposal to hunt while avoiding detection. They will have female pack members pose as prostitutes to lure male victims. They will haunt the shadows around nightclubs, sporting and concert venues and all-night diners. Prostitutes and homeless always make up a disproportionate number of victims.
A given swath of real estate can only support so many vampires. While an urban area may offer more hunting opportunities for vampires, it also increases their chances of running afoul of another pack. The country is safer, but hunting opportunities may be few and far between. Therefore, vampire packs must be ruthless in defending their territory. Battles between vampire packs are almost unimaginably vicious. It is not enough to merely win the confrontation. To have a future, a vampire pack must show their rivals how ruthless they are.
Vampire treatment of victims can range from indifferent to barbaric. If a pack finds a suitable new member, it will keep that person in their midst until transformation is complete. Once a pack size is set, vampires will usually tear their victims apart after feeding. Some consider this behavior as proof that vampires are cruel, but in fact it is more a question of pragmatism than cruelty. Left intact, today's bite victim could become tomorrow's rival. More sophisticated packs hide the corpses of their victims so as to avoid alerting authorities to their presence.
Vampire dwellings of the modern era are the very definition of crude and utilitarian. Since vampires spend most of their waking hours out hunting, there is little need for creature comforts at home. A vampire's priorities are avoiding detection and getting out of the sun, and their abodes reflect the transient nature of their lives. If a vampire pack has found a particularly safe, secluded hiding spot, the vampires may make perfunctory efforts to dress it up with furniture and knick knacks. Music is one of their preferred indulgences, one they had to curtail in the face of nosy vampire hunters. Knowing that their lair may be discovered at any time, vampires travel light. In the country, they live in caves, abandoned mines and barns. In the city, they inhabit abandoned buildings and subway stations, or they tunnel under piers along the waterfront.
It wasn't always this way. In the Middle Ages, when vampire packs roamed the countryside without fear of extermination, they enjoyed occupying lavish digs. Once set up in these palaces, Alpha Vampires would conspicuously display symbols of their success with all the windy self-importance of today's ruling classes.
A vampire is generally uninterested in personal hygiene. They dislike washing and will wear the same clothes as long as possible. However, because their hunting missions may require them to hide in plain sight, vampires have no choice but to wash themselves and put on new clothes (usually stolen from stores or taken off of victims) from time to time.
Vampire Myths
Most vampire myths come to us from the Dark Ages, when science was in its infancy and people looked to religion or superstition to explain the world around them. While many vampire myths have their basis in Christian orthodoxy, others represent imaginative interpretations of actual vampire behavior.
The myth that vampires sleep in coffins arose from gravediggers and others who observed vampires emerging from coffins and crypts. If a vampire did spend the night in a coffin, it probably had nothing to do with sleeping preference. In the old days, many victims of vampire bites were interred while still in a vampiric coma. The truth is, vampires will sleep wherever they feel safe.
The myth that garlic repels vampires is most likely based on observation since vampires have sensitive noses and can momentarily be driven off by pungent odors. However, this method of deterrence is unreliable and certainly won't work on an experienced vampire.
The extreme reaction of vampires to sunlight is most likely the source of the myth that vampires burst into flames upon exposure to sunlight. Due to modifications to the eye, sunlight renders vampires blind. It also causes an extreme epileptic reaction. Although it couldn't cause them to burst into flame when struck by the sun's rays, it does explain a general aversion to bright light. A crowd of peasants with torches could present a real problem to a vampire.
Many vampire myths are rooted in religious beliefs. Vampires of course reflect in mirrors, crosses have no effect on them and holy water, or any water for that matter, has little effect on vampires (although they can be drowned). It's possible that vampires themselves spread these myths to engender a false sense of security among their prey. A lot of other myths were propagated by literally fiction such as Bram Stoker's Dracula, as well as modern cinema and pop culture. Such modern myths include that vampires can fly, shapeshift, and have fangs.
Posted on Aug 15, 2006, 8:34 PM from IP address 138.88.231.21