Lacks, Henrietta (1920-1951), an African American woman, was the unknowing donor of a line of cells widely used in medical research. Those cells, known as HeLa cells, became one of the most important advances in medical science. HeLa stands for Henrietta Lacks. Lacks has also become an important figure in the field of medical ethics.
Life.
Henrietta Lacks was born Loretta Pleasant on Aug. 1, 1920, in Roanoke, Virginia. She later changed her name to Henrietta and married David Lacks in 1941. In 1951, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. She died on October 4 of that year. Before her death, doctors removed a sample of cancer cells during a medical examination. The sample was taken without her knowledge.
HeLa cells.
Scientists at Johns Hopkins University used the sample to establish the HeLa cell culture. A cell culture is a population of cells grown under controlled conditions for research. The usefulness of cell cultures is often limited because the cells die after a certain number of divisions. However, the HeLa cells divided indefinitely without dying.
HeLa cells grow faster than other cell cultures. They survive shipment by mail, enabling them to be sent to laboratories around the world. The unique qualities of HeLa cells led to many scientific discoveries and a greater understanding of biological processes. One of the first uses of HeLa cells was to test the safety and effectiveness of a vaccine for the disease polio.
HeLa cells were also used to produce the first cellular clones. Cellular clones are a group of cells descended from a single cell. They are genetically identical, enabling scientists to study entire populations of cells with a particular genetic trait.
Legacy.
HeLa cells remain an essential tool in laboratories throughout the world. They have been used to develop drugs and other therapies worth billions of dollars. However, Henrietta Lacks and her family received no compensation for the use of her cells. In medical ethics, her case is often cited as a classic example of failure to obtain informed consent from a tissue donor. Informed consent means that participants fully understand and accept the known risks and possible benefits of a medical procedure. Today, researchers regularly obtain consent from patients before taking tissue samples.
In 2013, the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH), a government agency that conducts and supports a broad range of biomedical research, made a historic agreement with the surviving family of Henrietta Lacks. NIH researchers must now obtain permission from a special review panel before they can view and use detailed genetic information of HeLa cells. Members of the Lacks family are included on the review panel. NIH also requested that researchers studying HeLa cells include an acknowledgement to the Lacks family when the research is published.
