The Legacy of Henrietta Lacks: HeLa Cells

Have you ever heard of a certain cell line called HeLa cells? This cell line has been revolutionary in the medical field since its discovery in 1951. In the mid-twentieth century, an African American woman named Henrietta Lacks developed cervical cancer. From her cells, the HeLa cell line was developed, changing many aspects in medicine regarding the development of vaccines

and new studies on different diseases. While all of this may sound amazing (which it certainly is!), there are some elements in the story and origin of these HeLa cells which are rather controversial. In this blog, we are going to explore the origin of the HeLa cell line, how it revolutionized the medical field, along with the story of Henrietta Lacks.

Origins of HeLa cells

Before we get into the actual HeLa cells, let’s learn about where they originated. Henrietta Lacks was a 31-year-old African American mother of five in 1951. She suffered from cervical cancer and this ended up being the cause of her death in the same year. Before Lacks’ death, however, doctors at John Hopkins decided to take some of her cancer cells. Some of them were taken to diagnose and treat her cervical cancer. However, during her operation, Dr. George Otto Gey took some of Lacks’ cells in his search to find essentially what would be immortal cells. Here is an excerpt from the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot:

“With Henrietta unconscious on the operating table in the center of the room,

her feet in stirrups, the surgeon on duty, Dr. Lawrence Wharton, Jr., sat on

a stool between her legs. He peered inside Henrietta, dilated her cervix, and

prepared to treat her tumor. But first – though no one had told Henrietta that

TeLinde was collecting samples or asked if she wanted to be a donor –

Wharton picked up a sharp knife and shaved two dime-sized pieces of tissue

from Henrietta’s cervix: one from her tumor, and one from the healthy cervical

tissue nearby. Then he placed the samples in a glass dish.”

Keep in mind that these tissue samples were removed from Henrietta without her permission. Additionally, while the doctors were supposed to treat her tumor, instead, they took her cells purely for research purposes. Because of this, the doctors at John Hopkins were able to take these cells and make multiple revolutionary discoveries.

Significance of HeLa cells

HeLa cells are the oldest human cell line and they are immortalized. Through research of these cells, doctors were able to save millions of lives with this information. One such way HeLa cells were influential was their impact on cancer research. A cancer research method was developed to help determine whether a cell line is cancerous or not. Additionally, HeLa cells have also helped map gene locations and which genes are on which chromosomes. They have also improved studies in leukemia, AIDS, and different types of cancers. As a result, more lives were saved from these diseases.

However, perhaps the most revolutionary change HeLa cells brought about was its contribution to many vaccines. For instance, in the early 1950s, scientists grew large amounts of the polio virus in HeLa cells, thereby giving them a better understanding on how the virus infected cells and led to disease. This allowed for the development of the polio vaccine in 1955. Additionally, HeLa cells were used in the research for COVID-19 vaccines as well. Furthermore, HeLa cells have also been incredibly influential in the development of more effective cancer treatments, medications for HIV and AIDS, and solutions to many other diseases. Clearly, HeLa cells have been extremely influential in the field of medicine and they will continue to be in the future.

The ethics of taking Lacks’ cells

While we can go on and on about the amazing role HeLa cells have played in the medical field, the ethics from when they first originated are very questionable. Firstly, Dr. Gey took these cells from Lacks without asking her at all. On top of this, rather than treating her first, the doctors instead went straight to work studying these cells. Also, keep in mind that Lacks was an African American woman in the 1950s, a time before the Civil Rights Movement, so it is very likely that Lacks faced some form of discrimination from the doctors. Furthermore, the HeLa cells were barely credited to Lacks so her name becomes virtually unknown and she does not receive the recognition she deserves.

Despite all of this, some may argue that the doctors had good intentions. After all, they wanted to study the cell line in hopes of saving millions of lives. Evidently, they succeeded and the HeLa cells were a breakthrough in the medical field. However, the discovery of these cells had to involve the death of Henrietta Lacks. Because of these ethical issues, a question is raised as to whether the end justifies the means in this scenario.

Of course, we have only covered a fraction of Henrietta Lacks’ story along with the story of the HeLa cells. So, for those of you who would like to learn more, Rebecca Skloot’s book mentioned earlier, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks may be a good read for you. In addition, there is also a movie based off of this book that shares the same name. So, to wrap up, hopefully you have learned something new about HeLa cells and the legacy of a fascinating woman - Henrietta Lacks.

Works Cited

https://www.webmd.com/cancer/cervical-cancer/hela-cells-cervical-cancer#:~:text=Scientists%20around%20the%20world%20have,infected%20cells%20and%20caused%20disease.