Henrietta Lacks was born on August 1, 1920, in Roanoke, Virginia, United States. Originally named Loretta Pleasant, she was raised by her grandfather after her mother died during childbirth in 1924. In her grandfather’s home, Henrietta grew up alongside her cousin David. The two would go on to marry in 1941 and have five children together before Henrietta’s untimely death in 1951 at just 31 years old.
Her Cancer
Before her fifth pregnancy, Henrietta felt what she described as a “knot” inside of her. Just months after the birth of her son, she was referred to Johns Hopkins Hospital where she underwent a biopsy that revealed a cervical tumor. After her diagnosis, Henrietta underwent radium treatments. As was typical for gynecological cancer treatment during the period, she was forced to undergo operations that involved implanting glass tubes filled with radioactive gas into her body. During one of these procedures, a physician by the name of Dr. George Gey removed multiple tissue samples for his own research purposes without Henrietta’s approval. Though Gey’s practices were legal at the time, Johns Hopkins Hospital has since recognized them as unethical. Henrietta’s death from cervical cancer followed soon after her procedure on October 4, 1951.
The Immortal Cells
With the samples that he extracted from Henrietta during her operation, Dr. Gey found that some of the cells in her tissues did not die after multiplying several times. This was highly unusual, as most of the cells from the samples that he studied died quickly. Gey took one of Henrietta’s cells and started the HeLa cell line, which could continue dividing indefinitely if provided with the proper space and nutrients. He realized that the nature of the cell line meant that it could be used reliably in many experiments. This realization led to HeLa cells being used in laboratories across the world to this day. They have been used to develop the polio vaccine, multiple HPV vaccines, and the process of in vitro fertilization.
Why the HeLa Cells Are Important
The HeLa cells behave the way they do because they have mutations that result in the hyperactivity of an enzyme called telomerase. This enzyme adds repetitive sequences of DNA called telomeres onto the ends of the consistently shortening chromosomes so that the cells can continue to grow and divide. Once the enzyme has stopped adding telomeres and the chromosomes become too short, the cells begin to die. However, cells with hyperactive versions of the enzyme can divide indefinitely. The cells’ immortality was also the cause of Henrietta’s cancer, with these cells growing so well that they spread throughout her body.
The Controversy
Henrietta Lacks’ family did not discover that her cells had been taken until the 1970s. They were also completely unaware that Henrietta’s genetic information had been published until author Rebecca Skloot informed them in the 2010s. The family was outraged at both the fact that the cells were being used without permission and the idea that anyone could freely access genetic information that could be connected to them. Their response to the issue along with criticism triggered by the release of Rebecca Skloot’s book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” led to a decision by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to have family members consulted whenever Henrietta’s cells were to be used in research.
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