Cell culture

further medical research. When she died in 1951, her cells were isolated creating a cell line called HeLa cells. After Lacks’ death, her cells were cloned and studied without her consent. The cells obtained from her were special because they were unusually strong cancer cells which could grow rapidly and indefinitely in the right medium (“Quick Guide to HeLa Cells,” n.d.). HeLa cells are not bound by the Hayflick limit which states that “the human cell is limited in the number of times it can…

of Henrietta Lacks, a black woman, whose cancer cells were taken from her without her permission. Though her lifespan only amounted to 31 years, the effect of her immortal cells will last an eternity. Although Henrietta was an African American woman, she received the best treatment available for her cancer at the time; however, her race affected her life greatly. Contrary to popular beliefs, Henrietta Lack’s race had little effect on her cells and the way she was treated in the hospital, in…

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is written by a curious journalist, Rebecca Skloot, who spent a portion of her life learning about a woman by the name of Henrietta Lacks. Henrietta Lacks died of cervical cancer in 1951, but her cells lived on. One thing that was most shocking throughout this reading is the extent to which people will go in order to gain knowledge. It is surprising how many scientists, doctors, and other medical professionals treated patients unfairly so that they could…

samples of her cancer cells without her knowledge and permission. These cells began reproducing endlessly. Even after Henrietta had died, her cells were still alive. They were transported all over the world and became known as the HeLa cells. The HeLa cells led to improvements in medicine such as vacines for polio and HPV and development of a clause that claimed that any personnel of a hospital has to have permission from the patient or the relatives of the patient to take any cells, blood, or…

Henrietta Lacks was born 97 years ago on August 1, 1920 in Virginia. She was born into a very poor household and with 8 siblings. Henrietta’s mother, Eliza Pleasant, died when Henrietta was only 4 years of age during childbirth. After her mother’s unexpected death, her father moved the children to Clover, VA. Henrietta worked on her grandfather’s tobacco farm growing up. Henrietta at the age of 14 had her first child with her cousin, David. She later married David when she was 20 years old. The…

and cells in general. Henrietta Lacks and her family did not have the rights to potential earnings from these discoveries made from her tissue (Zimmer 2013). The question is simple. Is the person’s personal rights over their tissue more important than contributing to science and research to benefit the common good? I believe that a person’s rights to his or her own body is more important. Scientists seem to exploit people for samples of cells only to make a profit.…

decided to take Henrietta's cells without permission and turning it into a profitable business; since they knew very little about what was actually going on and what the HeLa cells meant for the rest of the world. Further expanding on the idea that since Henrietta's family was not educated enough due to poverty, they could never grasp the concept of what Henrietta's cells actually meant and the value associated with them. For a while, the family didn't even know Henrietta's cells where being…

Henrietta Lack’s cells have a long and rich history that span the study of genetics. She has been a part of thousands of research projects with the hope that her cells can make a difference. One project that has used her cells in its work is the Human Genome Project. This multinational, government driven idea wanted to discover the inner-workings of the human body and how humans differ from each other by sequencing the human genome. The genome is the “instruction manual” that is “written” in the…

best known as the woman with the immortal cells. She was diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer in 1951 at John Hopkins University by Dr. George Gey. She died in 1951 at the age of 31. During her cervical-cancer biopsy Dr. Gey snipped samples from her tissue without the consent of the patient to run studies on the cells that were grown from the tumor. That is how Henrietta Lacks made one of the greatest contributions to medical studies today. Lacks cells were called “immortal” due to the fact…

understanding of the science behind Henrietta's cells. Most importantly there was the discovery of the sexually transmitted disease called Human Papillomavirus (HPV). What HPV does is turn of a gene that is a tumor suppressor and the HeLa cells tested positive for this HPV virus. While this discovery provided some light on the mystery of Henritta's cause of cancer, it still could not lead to any clues on the uniqueness of Henrietta’s cells. Her cells and the way they have been manipulated and…