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Henrietta Lacks

The Immortal Cells of Science That Came From A Poor, Black Tobacco Farmer.

By Lady SundayPublished 4 years ago 2 min read
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In 1951, a young 30 year-old woman in Virginia, Henrietta Lacks, who was being treated for cervical cancer, had her tumor cells stolen by her doctor and sent to the hospital lab. She died not long after, but her cells, labeled HeLa for her name, mysteriously never died and are known to be the very first cells ever grown in culture. Her cell sample is known in the scientific community as 'Immortal Cells' and have been used for landmark research for the Polio Vaccine, gene mapping, cloning, and in-vitro fertilization.

Since then, keeping cell samples anonymous has become the norm among the medical world. Henrietta Lacks name was not discovered amongst the other pseudonyms for her HeLa cells until the 1970's at least. We can read more about the original donor in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.

Henrietta Lacks with husband - educationalsynthesis.org

What's so interesting about HeLa Cells?

It was HeLa cells that were first used to determine we have 46 chromosomes. HeLa cells can float on dust particles, travel on unwashed hands, and contaminate other cultures. In order to straighten out the contamination problem amongst all the other cultures, like breast cell and prostate cell samples, researchers tracked down Henrietta's relatives for DNA samples. HeLa cells were the first human biological materials ever bought and sold. This launched a first in what is today a multi-billion-dollar business industry. Her family, like her sons and daughters, launched a campaign when they discovered how their father, who had no head for science, had been swindled out of the money that Henrietta's science-breaking Immortal Cells earned. Her cells traveled to space with both American and Russian satellites, and with Yuri Gragarin on his first flight, in order to test zero gravity on these 'Immortal Cells'. Her cells have even flown to the Moon!

Type of Cancer 'Immortal Cells' are from:

HeLa Cells were taken from a type of Human Papilloma Virus that causes cervical cancer. It's a statistical fact that some women can naturally fight a type of HPV off naturally. A positive for this virus once can turn into a negative test result based on the woman's natural body chemistry. It has also been proven that some women's bodies can only carry male children. The PH balance of the woman being the deciding factor on some miscarriages and the sex of the children miscarried being mostly one sex, or the other. Henrietta Lacks cancer cells are amazing in that the type of cancer she had, at the time of being sent to the lab, was not planned in any way. It was coincedental and turned into something that we have used for treatments and cures, and can continue to use for so many other medical treatments! The fact she was a woman is just too perfect! She had five children and 3 of them were boys, with two daughters in her brood. Her surviving family has a website and you can view it here! It would be nice to think that all the women in her line have the ability to pass on whatever DNA that made her specific cancer 'Immortal'! Hopefully, there are other women that carry some sort of genetic pre-disposure as protection from the prior generations of women having exposure to this HPV, other cancers, viruses and other diseases. Or maybe pass on strands that mix well from their fathers for protection from viruses and diseases throughout generations!

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About the Creator

Lady Sunday

I'm a self-publishing author of fiction and I love to research and write creative non-fiction.

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