Henrietta Lacks

Henrietta Lacks

An “immortal” cell line was created over sixty years ago in order to help scientists experiment and test theories about different illnesses as well as their treatments and causes. These cell lines must be able to grow and divide forever so that they can be split and shared among scientists in order to one day find much needed cures for the world’s worst diseases. Unknowingly and without consent, Henrietta Lacks, originally named Loretta Pleasant, donated the necessary cells to create this first ever cell line that could grow indefinitely.

Lacks was an African American tobacco farmer from southern Virginia who was diagnosed with cervical cancer at the age of thirty. She had a large tumor on her cervix and was sent to John Hopkins for examination and testing and then was later treated for a malignant epidermoid carcinoma of the cervix. During radiation treatment, her doctor removed a small part of her tumor without her permission. Dr. George Gey received her cells and saw that these cells could be kept alive and continue to grow and survive longer than any he’d ever seen. Dr. Gey created the first “immortal” cell line, calling it the HeLa immortal cell line , after Henrietta Lacks’ first two letters of her first and last names.

Henrietta Lacks died after the cancer metastasized throughout her entire body. Despite her death over sixty years ago, her cells continue to live and grow even today. The HeLa cells were able to give scientists a better understanding of the structure and functions of cells as a whole. In addition, they were the first of their kind and went on to be mass produced, creating about 20 tons of cells for scientific use. "The cells reproduced an entire generation every twenty-four hours, and they never stopped. Today there are millions, perhaps even billions, of her cells in small vials on ice." (Skloot, 4). These cells are used today in AIDS, Parkinson’s, and In-Vitro research, gene mapping, and drugs for diseases like...