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the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Henrietta Lacks (August 1, 1920 – October 4, 1951) was an African American woman whose cells, known as the “HeLa” cells, have played a pivotal role in scientific and medical research. Henrietta Lacks was born in Roanoke, Virginia, and she later moved to Maryland. She passed away at the young age of 31 due to cervical cancer.
In 1951, Henrietta Lacks was treated for cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. During her treatment, a small sample of her cancerous tissue was taken without her knowledge or consent. These cells turned out to be incredibly unique and valuable because they were the first human cells to be successfully cultured and maintained outside the human body. They exhibited an extraordinary ability to divide and multiply, making them ideal for scientific research.
These cells became known as “HeLa” cells, derived from the first two letters of Henrietta Lacks’ first and last names. HeLa cells were pivotal in numerous medical breakthroughs, including the development of the polio vaccine, cancer research, cloning, gene mapping, and understanding the effects of space travel on human cells. They have been crucial tools in studying cell biology, genetics, virology, and various other fields.
However, for many years, Henrietta Lacks and her family were not informed about the use of her cells or the extent of their contributions to science. The commercialization and distribution of HeLa cells became a subject of ethical debate, especially given the lack of informed consent. The story raised questions about patient consent, bioethics, and the rights of individuals whose tissues are used for research.
In recent years, there has been greater awareness and acknowledgment of Henrietta Lacks’ contribution to science, as well as efforts to honor her legacy and address the ethical issues surrounding the use of her cells. The Lacks family established the Henrietta Lacks Foundation to promote education and healthcare access for underprivileged individuals and to ensure that her legacy is respected.
The story of Henrietta Lacks was brought to public attention through the 2010 book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot, which chronicled her life, the scientific impact of her cells, and the ethical considerations surrounding their use. The book also shed light on the Lacks family’s experiences and perspectives.
The family of Henrietta Lacks reached a settlement yesterday with biotech company Thermo Fisher Scientific.Lacks’s descendants filed a lawsuit against Thermo Fisher in 2021, claiming that the company profited off of Lacks’s cells for decades by selling her cells and seeking to obtain IP rights to medical advancements that they were used to develop.
The settlement terms are confidential, but Lacks’s family has used the lawsuit to call attention to racism in the American medical system, saying in their complaint, “Too often, the history of medical experimentation in the United States has been the history of medical racism.”
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