HeLa Cells and the Woman They Came From by Rowan Lester

Who is Henrietta Lacks?

rowanlester — 2024-02-26 18:08:39 UTC

Henrietta Lacks was an African American woman whose cervix cancer cells are the source of the HeLa cell line, the first immortal human cell line and one of the most important cell lines in medical research. She was born on August 1, 1920, in Roanoke, Virginia. She later moved to Clover, Virginia where she lived with and was a mother of 5 with her cousin, Day. Her cells were taken without her consent or knowledge during a routine Radion treatment for her cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Most patients had their cells taken to be tested for immortality, a trait that would be beneficial for extensive studying of the cells, and Henreitta's cells just too happened to be. She didn't even know that her cells were even taken or immortal in her entire lifetime.

The HeLa Cell Line

rowanlester — 2024-02-26 18:08:40 UTC

The HeLa cell line that is derived from Henrietta Lacks' cervical cancer cells has been instrumental in many scientific breakthroughs, including the development of the polio vaccine, research into cancer, AIDS, the effects of radiation and toxic substances, gene mapping, and many more. HeLa cells were the first human cells to be cloned in 1955 and since have been used in thousands of experiments and medical experiments. Even if she didn't know, she has saved thousands if not millions of lives. The cells weren't just normal human cells, they were an aggressive cancer. And as quoted by the scientists that discovered them "They were sure Henreitta cells would die just like all the others."

Henrietta Lacks' Family and Ethical Issues

rowanlester — 2024-02-26 18:08:40 UTC

Besides from the questionable ethics of taking a part of someone without telling them and the racism that is interwoven with that fact, and the story of the Lack's and their constant persecution for their information is something even more important. The questionable ethics of human genome and cell tempering in the first place had created a lot of debate as well as an interesting and important mystery that has only been unveiled relativity recently considering how important and old the HELA cells are.

"The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks"

rowanlester — 2024-02-26 18:08:40 UTC

Rebecca Skloot's book "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," brought Henrietta's story into the light, a story which was previously widely unknown or not cared about by the public. The book is about Henrietta life and family, what happened to her and why she was never told her cells were taken as well. The discovery and impact of HeLa cell has been very important to science, but even so the ethicality of taking her cells is still debated. The book has grown to be very popular and acclaimed and has sparked discussions about racism, scientific advancements, and the ethics of human genome tampering.

Social Injustice

rowanlester — 2024-02-26 18:31:55 UTC

This article talks more about the social injustices and controversy's surrounding HELA cells. Some debate includes whether or not the family should be compensated for the cells, while the family seems to maintain that all they want is recognition of Henreitta Lacks. One of my favorite parts of the article is when they list things about Henreitta Lacks often overlooked, "Henrietta Lacks loved to cook — spaghetti was a favorite — and she loved to dance, often with one of her five children in her arms. She dressed stylishly and wore red nail polish."

HELA Cells Dividing

rowanlester — 2024-02-26 18:38:41 UTC

This is a timelapse of HeLa Cells. The video is very sped up, as the cells only devide every 20-24 hours, which is alot slower than i thought. Even though they are relativly slow though, they are still infinite.

John Hopkins Response

rowanlester — 2024-02-26 18:41:23 UTC

This is the article about HeLa cells written by john Hopkins themselves. It is very short and sweet, making sure to clarify that john Hopkins don't own the rights to or cell Hela cells, but rather they offer them freely to anyone who wants the. They talk about some of the discovery's that HeLa cells have contributed to as well as confirming the fact that other cell lines are used today.

HeLa Cells in Space

rowanlester — 2024-02-26 18:45:48 UTC

This talks alot about how and why HeLa cells were used, going into detail about what expereiments were done with them. "They were sent to space during the Space Race to uncover the impact of zero gravity on human cells." This quoute is about how they were used to test the effects of zero gravity, and there are other quotes stating they were used for testing of radiations effects on humans cells. This is one of the more extensive articles.

Do you think genetic modifications are okay if they save lives? What if the information or substances for the modification was gotten in less than okay ways?

rowanlester — 2024-02-27 17:57:13 UTC

Do you think that the family deserves componsation from there family members cells generations down the line?

rowanlester — 2024-02-27 17:57:57 UTC

Infographic.

rowanlester — 2024-02-27 18:06:06 UTC

This is an infographic about the timeline of Henrietta Lacks and her cells. It is pretty interesting, I suppose.

Why do you think it took over 50 years for people to find out about Henrietta Lacks cells and whose she was? Do you think if Rebecca Skloot hadn't taken an interest in her case she would be known as she it today?

rowanlester — 2024-02-27 18:10:15 UTC