Advancements on medical technology would be impossible without the research work done by medical doctors and researchers. This research is usually conducted in specialised laboratories, which contain the latest in cutting edge medical equipment, as well as the highest levels of bio-safety and containment equipment. Research conducted at these facilities can range from the relatively mundane, such as improving existing medical equipment, to the very limits of technology and from relatively safe to desperately dangerous, for example working with deadly pathogens in an effort to find a cure.

While most work done in laboratories would benefit society, there are also laboratories which work on morally questionable projects such as making pathogens more deadly, or even weaponizing them. Highly unethical practices such as testing on sentient beings may also be carried out, sometimes with the blessing of the ruling government, which may provide criminals or other undesirables as unwilling test subjects. Often located far from prying eyes, laboratories that conduct these forms of research can be dark places, frequently haunted by the ghosts of long dead test subjects. Facilities of this sort are rare though, with most medical laboratories contributing positively to the health of the citizens on the planet they are located on.