The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

As we think about the progress we’ve made in the realm of science and technology, it also raises the question of how ethics and morals play a part in those developments. The HeLa cell has provided a great deal of scientific advancements, from proving phenomenons such as cloning to supporting the creation of vaccines, to providing further proof around the spread of viruses and other illnesses. It is the first known cell line that was immortal, having the strength to withstand cell transportations via postal mail, as well as mitigating polio disease. As researchers, scientists, and medical professionals alike praise their peers and colleagues for their contributions to the development of science using these unique cells, there seems to have been a name that was left out as the main source of these discoveries, and that’s Henrietta Lacks.

It all started in 1951, when Henrietta Lacks went to Johns Hopkins Hospital to begin her treatment for her cervical cancer. Dr. George Grey, a cancer researcher at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, ran some tests on Lacks and, unbeknownst to her, acquired her cervix cells to run further tests. Ultimately, he discovered that Lacks’ cells were immortal, which had been a long-time attempt for researchers to achieve in cell development. However, these tests prior to the founding of Henrietta Lacks’ cells, had always failed. Later that same year, Henrietta Lacks died from cervical cancer. Unfortunately, she would not be able to see the profound impact that her cervix cells, later labeled as HeLa cells, would have on the entire biomedical industry.

Years following the discovery of the HeLa cells, they were used to create the vaccine used to treat polio, a crippling and life-threatening disease that can lead to paralysis. The cells were then shipped through postal mail, becoming one of the first cell lines to withstand this method of cell transportation without dying out in the process. In 1952, the Tuskegee Institute created the HeLa factory in Alabama, where scientists began to run tests, produce, and send HeLa cells to other research centers across the nation and overseas.

Over the next two to three decades, HeLa cells would be the source for cloning developments, cell hybrid experiments, and other research related to infections and diseases such as HPV, HIV, Ebola, and tuberculosis. At the same time, there were other cases of medical malpractice and ethics involved as these evolutions in cell biology began to unfold. For example, in 1954, immunologist and oncologist Chester Southam began to experiment on human patients without their consent, injecting HeLa cells without them knowing to see whether or not the cells would cause cancer. In 1966, Southam and another colleague of his were charged and found guilty of unprofessional conduct by the Board of Regents of the Government of the State of New York. This led to the creation of strict guidelines around informed consent and close reviews on the types of research being approved by The National Institute of Health.

By the 1970s, Henrietta Lacks was finally identified as the source of the HeLa cells, and her family was later notified. Although these strict regulations on human testing and consent began to take form, they were not being enforced. Using the guise of being concerned for their health and developing cancer, John Hopkins Hospital doctors asked that Henrietta Lacks’ children should come in to run tests on them. However, their cells were used to help with the further development of HeLa cells and usage. The family found out through an article that ran in Rolling Stone in 1975, outlining the story of Henrietta Lack’s revolutionary cells and how it became commercialized.

As we move into modern times, researchers from all over the world began to earn awards and accolades for their discoveries using HeLa cells. For instance, a German virologist by the name of Harald Zur Hausen received a Nobel Peace Prize for his cancer research in 2008. In 2009, a Nobel Prize was awarded for Telomeres research, using HeLa cells as the basis. In 2014, yet another Nobel Prize was awarded for live viewing of cellular growth using, yes, HeLa cells.

By 2010, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks was published by scientific journalist Rebecca Skloot outlining in detail the story of Lacks, the HeLa cells, and how this discovery impacted both the science world and the Lacks family. This book also held government agencies, the science world, and the medical realm accountable for their malpractices, which led to several accounts of unions, lawsuits, and other forms of protests around consent to use human cells, tissues, and other molecular particles for personal use and technological advancements. In terms of race, Lacks’s story proves that Black history is always buried to help make White scholars look like saviors. Black voices continue to be erased from the narrative of societal progress. If it wasn’t for Lacks’s cells, the developments in research on vaccines, infections, and microbiology would not exist today.

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