There was a tech file posted in the file forum that allowed for basic labs in colony games. It required you to research those 5 basic techs first before you can get a standard lab. Once you've researched them, you can build a standard lab, and can't build a basic lab anymore. But at that point, there is absolutely no reason to have one anymore.
The tiger speed modification was also moved so it couldn't be researched from the basic lab. Instead, you either got it from wreckage, or you got a precursor tech from wreckage that allowed you to research the upgrade at an advanced lab. It all just depended on how the level designer wanted to set things up.
And you're quite free to produce you're own tech tree for new colony games. It's not that hard to figure out how the file works and either modify it, or create a new one from scratch. Mind you, the file is pretty huge, so you probably don't want to build one from scratch.
