THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS

HENRIETTA LACKS
1920 - 1951
The woman whose cancer cells were harvested without permission and led to countless medical breakthroughs due to the mutation that ultimately cost her her life.

Henrietta Lacks (Lorretta Pleasant) was born in Roanoke in the state of Virginia on August 1st 1920. She later moved to Baltimore County with her husband David in 1941 and was sadly diagnosed with cervical cancer after giving birth to her fifth child.

During her treatment at Johns Hopkins she had some of her cancerous tissue removed so that doctors could study the diseased cells by comparing them to cell samples obtained from some of Henrietta's healthy tissue. These cells were obtained and studied without the knowledge or permission of Henrietta who, after several failed rounds of radiation therapy, sadly lost her battle with cancer on October 4th 1951.

THE IMMORTAL CELLS THAT CHANGED SCIENCE

After Henrietta had passed away further samples of henriettas cancerous tissue were obtained without the consent of henrietta or her family. These cells made their way to a laboratory were researcher Dr George Otto Gey noticed that they had quite remarkable properties since they were able to survive longer than a few days under laboratory conditions. Furthermore, this property was also seen in the daughter cells after these cells underwent the process of cell division.

This was pivitol point in medicine since it has enabled scientist to experiment with human cells that can be harvested within the laboratory. These cells later became known as HeLa cells and the cell line has been used in tens of thousands of scientific experiments in laboratories across the globe. Since then the breakthroughs, treatments and discoveries made from experiments with HeLa cells have provided a vast amount of knowledge to the human race and saved and improved the lives of countless individuals the world over.

SOME OF THE MOST NOTABLE ADVANCEMENTS INCLUDE:

• The Polio Vaccine
• Linking Gene Functions to specific chromosomes - Genome Mapping
• Cervical Cancer Vaccinations
• Discoveries of the cell cycle
• Flu Vaccinations
• Herpes, Lukemia, hemophilia and Parkinsons treatments
• Countless other.....

Henrietta Lacks is a name that you may not of heard if it wasn't for her family discovering that her cells were being used for medical research in the mid 1970's

This discovery was due to a large portion of other cell cultures becoming contaminated with Henriettas DNA and scientists around the world began to contact the Lacks family to request blood samples in an attempt to profile the families DNA and differentiate the genetic material originating from Henreitta Lacks. Due to the large number of requests, some of which offering payment, the family became suspicious which led to the family asking questions and discussing their concerns in public. It was in 1975 that the family learned during a discussion at a dinner party that Henrietta's cells were being used for medical research.

Since then, the family have fought and campaigned against the publication of family medical records, the publication of Henrietta's DNA sequence due to privacy concerns and for compensation to be awarded to the family due to the commercial use of HeLa cells by the pharmaceutical industry.

Their campaigning has brought awareness to the story which has lead to both a best selling book and a movie staring Oprah Winfrey. You can check out the trailer here

THANK YOU FOR READING

If you have enjoyed reading please consider giving me some feedback and check out my other posts