Five Reasons Henrietta Lacks is the Most Important Woman in Medical History

Posted 02.05.2010 at 12:11 pm 3 Comments

Divide and Conquer A HeLa cell splitting into two new cells. Courtesy Paul D. Andrews

In 1951, Henrietta Lacks, a poor woman with a middle-school education, made one of the greatest medical contributions ever. Her cells, taken from a cervical-cancer biopsy, became the first immortal human cell line—the cells reproduce infinitely in a lab. Although other immortal lines have since been established, Lacks’s “HeLa” cells are the standard in labs around the world. Together they outweigh 100 Empire State Buildings and could circle the equator three times. This month, PopSci contributor Rebecca Skloot’s book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, tells the story behind the woman who revolutionized modern medicine. Here, five reasons we should all thank Henrietta Lacks.

1. Before HeLa cells, scientists spent more time trying to keep cells alive than performing actual research on the cells. An endless supply of HeLa cells freed up time for discovery.

2. In 1952, the worst year of the polio epidemic, HeLa cells were used to test the vaccine that protected millions.

3. Some cells in Lacks’s tissue sample behaved differently than others. Scientists learned to isolate one specific cell, multiply it, and start a cell line. Isolating one cell and keeping it alive is the basic technique for cloning and in-vitro fertilization.

4. A scientist accidentally poured a chemical on a HeLa cell that spread out its tangled chromosomes. Later on, scientists used this technique to determine that humans have 46 chromosomes—23 pairs—not 48, which provided the basis for making several types of genetic diagnoses.

5. It was discovered that Lacks’s cancerous cells used an enzyme called telomerase to repair their DNA, allowing them, and other types of cancer cells, to function when normal cells would have died. Anti-cancer drugs that work against this enzyme are currently in early clinical trials.

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3 Comments

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25th Scientist

02/05/10 at 1:25 pm

This is all beautiful science indeed.

However, millions of dollars in profits have been reaped from using this woman's body parts. What did Mrs Lacks and her family receive in return? Not a penny!

She was not wealthy, not very well educated and as most anyone in her position would do, she signed away all rights to her bodily tissues.

When good science leads to even better profits off the body parts of an ususpecting patient, the patient deserves some type of compensation.

Whoever wrote this popsci article, I'm sure is familiar with this side of the story, but chose to leave this part out. Shame on you.

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steve28

02/05/10 at 7:26 pm

George grey and his wife spent 20 years prior to 1951 looking for a very special type human cell that was strong enough to survive laboratory conditions , such a cell would be perfect for finding a cure for cancer . George was head of tissue culture research at johns Hopkins university .
Henrietta lacks had cervical cancer and she had a biopsy taken of her cancer cells . Within these cells the two found the most robust and fastest growing human cells science had ever seen .
Some pretty huge contributions to human knowlege have been made from the Henrietta lacks cells not to mention countless lives have been saved .
Henrietta lacks died of her cancer on the day that George grey made the announcement on tv about the discovery . It's a shame she would never know the contributions her cells made and continue to make to this day .
Henrietta's "body parts" were not the subject in any if this and she had was put to rest all her body parts in tact .
Cells cultured from a biopsy sent to a research lab are the property of the university if I'm not mistaken .

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Meshca

02/06/10 at 6:31 pm

The biggest issue with that is they didn't tell her that they took the samples. I think that's why the problem of her family not getting profit in return when it was 'stolen' in the first place. Although, I don't know what the procedures during those times were, you might've not needed consent, and as steve28 said, it might've been the property of the university at that point.

Personally, poor or rich, I would have been satisfied that a small part of a single person could have done so much to better medicine. I read this on yahoo, there's a writer that's publishing her biography/story I think. Should be a good one.

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