The Cells that changed the world of Science

To my elder and younger,

So I was on the subway the other day and saw an ad for a book: "the Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks" http://rebeccaskloot.com/the-immortal-life/ I was incredibly curious as to what they meant by "Immortal Life". So when I got home I had to look it up and find out about this woman.

Now Henrietta actually died October 4, 1951. So what about her is immortal? Well apparently back in the 50's doctors did not require consent to take samples from patients during surgery. So that is what they did. She went into surgery for a cancerous tumor and they removed some of her cells.

Before these cells, cells would only last a few days in the lab; however Henrietta's cells survived and thrived in the lab much longer. They duplicated and grew and eventually were sold to millions of scientists. Her cells are referred to a HeLa cells and have been used in almost every medical research since the 50s. They were the human cells used to develop a polio vaccine in 1954.

Imagine the medical world if these cells had not been discovered! With that said, I believe that patient consent should have been given. Although, it is unfortunate that all this money has been made from "stolen cells" the legacy Henrietta has left is the biggest change to the medical research field of the 20th century.

-A