Henrietta Lacks was a black woman who died of cervical
cancer in 1951 at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Her cervical cells
were taken and grown in culture by a scientist called George Otto Gey. It grew
like no other cells and it became the most widely used cell line in the world
and helped in many medical discoveries including the polio vaccination and currently spearing heading research in AIDS. It was
the first human immortal cell line. Her cells were grown commercially and
companies made lots of money from her cells without Henrietta’s or her family’s
consent. Sadly, the Lacks families had no clue about the existence of her cells till a few years ago. They were so poor that they could not even afford
health insurance. Read more about this amazing cell line and the woman called
Henrietta Lacks. Read more about this amazing
cell line and the woman called Henrietta Lacks.
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| HeLa Cells of Henrietta Lacks |