The immortal Henrietta Lacks

Who was Henrietta?

She was an African American woman from Roanoke Virginia. She was born in 1920 and died 1951. Her mother passed giving birth to her 10th child, forcing her father to divide the children at an early age.

Henreitta was sent to live with her grandfather in clover Virginia. There she met Day, her first cousin, whom she married. Shortly after the pair moved to a steal town near Baltimore, where they raised five children.

Henrietta and David (Day) LacksThe Lacks family included, their oldest Lawrence, then Elise, Sonny, Deborah and Joseph ( Now Zakariyya Bari Abdul Rahman). Henrietta contracted cervical cancer shortly after the birth of her last son Joseph.

In Death there must be lifeDuring her radiation treatments for the tumor, two samples of Henrietta's cervix were removed— a healthy part and a cancerous part— without her permission. ] The cells from her cervix were given to Dr. George Otto Gey. These cells would eventually become the HeLa immortal cell line, a commonly used cell line in biomedical research.

Hela Cells stained in the laboratory HeLa cells were used by Jonas Salk to test the first polio vaccine in the 1950s. Since that time, HeLa cells have been used for "research into cancer, AIDS, the effects of radiation and toxic substances, gene mapping, and many other scientific pursuits

The immortal cell vs. the Lab.

HeLa cells are sometimes difficult to control. They have proven to be a persistent laboratory “weed" that contaminates other cell cultures in the same laboratory, interfering with biological research and forcing researchers to declare many results invalid. Hela cells can travel on dust particles in the air, allowing for mass contamination.

Pain for Profit and Conclusioin

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' “HeLa” cells are the standard in labs around the world. Together they outweigh 100 Empire State Buildings and could circle the equator three times.

 

Henrietta s family has never received a dime of the Hela strain money. Are they entitled ?