Were it not for one poor woman’s unknown contribution of her prolific “HeLa” cells, treatments for diseases such as polio, leukemia, Parkinson’s and influenza would only be a dream. Science reporter Rebecca Skloot writes in her new book, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” a story of how a young woman made a significant contribution to science without her knowledge. HeLa cells were the first ever to be cultured and endlessly reproduce in laboratories for the purposes of medical research. Skloot writes in her book that scientists in the 30’s and 40’s tried in vain to reproduce human cells in a culture but failed. When they tried culturing cells from Herietta Lacks, scientists discovered that the reproduced an entire generation every 24 hours. Her cells were cultured from an aggressive cancer tumor.
Lacks was an African-American working class wife and mother of five who lived in Baltimore. She died of cervical cancer in 1951 while still in her 30’s. During the course of her illness her physician from John Hopkins Hospital took a culture of her cervical cells. Surprisingly, those prolific cells are still reproducing and sold worldwide for medical research—supporting a multi-million dollar industry.
Like many African Americans of her era, she did not know that her body was going to be used medical research, much less commercial research for perpetuity. Skloot reveals that neither she nor her family were ever beneficiaries of her legacy.
How things have changed for the better! Lingering bitter memories of being taken advantaged by the medical industry still leaves a scar on many African Americans today. Such a case would now be unimaginable. Informed consent is the bed rock of our medical system. May Herietta Lacks’ legacy and cells live on to perpetuity.
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