On Henrietta Lacks and HeLa Cells

On Henrietta Lacks and HeLa Cells: In February of 1951, an African-American woman from rural Virginia (Henrietta Lacks) was dying of cervical cancer. Without her knowledge, doctors (cell biologists) took samples of her tumor cells to see if they would continue to grow or multiply outside of her body. Labeling them "HeLa" cells, these were the first cells used to create an "immortal line." Until the arrival of HeLa cells, doctors (cell biologists) had spent a majority their time trying to keep cells alive. With HeLa cells, however, they no longer had to worry about cellular reproduction, because these cells seemed to multiply indefinitely. What made "immortal" cell lines so valuable was that they could be used to generate an enormous amount of medical research. Unfortunately, the Lacks family was not made aware of of Henrietta's "immortality" until around 1975. And the taking of Henrietta's personal property for research purposes (without her consent) certainly raised a number of patient privacy concerns that still remain issues in healthcare to this day (HIPAA).