How Do You Appreciate The Contribution Of Hela Cells & Henrietta Lacks For Black History Month?
Hela cells was one of the most riveting scientific occurrences which happened in 1951. Suffering from a late stage cervical cancer in Baltimore, Md, Henrietta Lacks entered Johns Hopkins University Hospital to seek treatment. As traditional treatment for her cancer, Lacks tissues (Hela Cells) were taken. (The term ‘Hela’ is taken from the first two letters of her first and last name) But what marveled many scientists including Dr. George Otto Gay was that Henrietta Lacks’ cells multiplied and grew at an enormous rate and those cells did something rather curious, they never died. Lacks’ cells were deemed immortal. What her family would find out decades later was that her cells were used in the Polio vaccine, for AIDs research and sent up into space on scientific missions to determine how her cells behaved in outerspace. Even the cosmetic industry used Hela cells as well as tape and glue manufactures. Recently a book, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot has been writ
