My research area is genetics and I often read papers about experiments undertaken on HeLa cells. I never knew why they were called that. I imagine a lot of people already do but here it is...
HeLa cells are an immortal cell line, meaning they can be grown and cultured conceivably forever (most cell lines die after 50 divisions). This makes them a useful study object for human genetics. You can insert mutations, delete genes, and do many other things just to see what happens to these cells.
There have been many discoveries that have been directly born out of HeLa cells:
1. The discovery of HPV-16, one of the viruses that cause cervical cancer, amongst other malignancies. A vaccine was also discovered using HeLa cells and has undoubtedly saved millions of lives.
2. The eradication of Polio through vaccine research on HeLa cells. Again saving countless lives and preventing suffering.
3. Most recently, HeLa cells have been used in COVID research. Indeed, the experiments that discovered that SARS-CoV2 enters through the hACE2 receptor was performed on HeLa cells.
4. There are many others... The NIH searched PubMed and found 110 000 articles citing the use of HeLa cells between 1951 and 2018.
So why am I talking about it?
Henrietta Lacks was an African American tobacco farmer born in 1920. She developed cervical cancer in January 1951 - Johns Hopkins was the only hospital in the area to treat Black people at the time, although she stayed on a segregated ward as an inpatient.
She had radiation treatment which was ultimately unsuccessful. She died in October 1951. During her treatment, samples of her cervix (malignant and non-malignant) were obtained without her consent. These were then cultured by George Otto Gey, a researcher.
Gey had a habit of naming cell lines after patients, which may contravene most confidentiality policies today. He named Henrietta Lacks’ cell line, HeLa.
These cells were interesting as they grew so quickly and didn’t seem to die in vitro. Further samples were even harvested from Henrietta’s body post-mortem, obviously without consent.
There have been many discoveries that have been directly born out of HeLa cells:
1. The discovery of HPV-16, one of the viruses that cause cervical cancer, amongst other malignancies. A vaccine was also discovered using HeLa cells and has undoubtedly saved millions of lives.
2. The eradication of Polio through vaccine research on HeLa cells. Again saving countless lives and preventing suffering.
3. Most recently, HeLa cells have been used in COVID research. Indeed, the experiments that discovered that SARS-CoV2 enters through the hACE2 receptor was performed on HeLa cells.
4. There are many others... The NIH searched PubMed and found 110 000 articles citing the use of HeLa cells between 1951 and 2018.
So why am I talking about it?
Henrietta Lacks was an African American tobacco farmer born in 1920. She developed cervical cancer in January 1951 - Johns Hopkins was the only hospital in the area to treat Black people at the time, although she stayed on a segregated ward as an inpatient.
Gey had a habit of naming cell lines after patients, which may contravene most confidentiality policies today. He named Henrietta Lacks’ cell line, HeLa.
These cells were interesting as they grew so quickly and didn’t seem to die in vitro. Further samples were even harvested from Henrietta’s body post-mortem, obviously without consent.
Henrietta Lacks was buried in an unmarked grave. A headstone was donated in 2010 by a researcher from Morehouse School of Medicine.
HeLa cell lines went on to revolutionize biomedical research. They became ubiquitous around the world as they are now. It wasn’t until 1975 that the Lack’s family were to find out about HeLa cells by chance - apparently by overhearing a conversation.
In a separate but related case, the Supreme Court of California ruled in 1980 that a person’s ‘discarded’ cells and tissues were not their property and could be commercialized. This was the Moore vs Regents of California case.
John Moore was a white American who developed Hairy Cell Leukaemia in 1976. His treating physician, Dr Golde, recommended splenectomy. Ultimately cells from his spleen were cultured into the ‘Mo’ cell line. This was patented in 1984.
The ‘Mo’ cell line was remarkable. These were T lymphocytes that produced GM-CSF, a potent immunostimulator.
John Moore discovered this after becoming suspicious of Dr Golde’s enticements to keep him coming to clinic. He took Dr Golde and others to court.
Moore’s cells had an estimated commercial value of $3 billion back in 1990 when the court ruled he would not be eligible for a share.
His appeal was also rejected but Dr Golde was reprimanded for his conduct. The term ‘bioslavery’ was coined during this case.
The Lacks family have never received any compensation. They have campaigned for the cells to be owned by her estate and they would set up a foundation to allow everyone to benefit from the cells.
The net worth of HeLa cells is difficult to establish but no doubt huge.
There are over 11 000 US patents that relate to HeLa cells. The enormity of her unknowing contribution to the human race is indescribable.
In 2013, the HeLa genome was published by a research group, effectively unmasking any anonymity of the Lacks family - if your grandmother’s genome was published, that would be a quarter of your own. This was done without the Lacks’ consent.
An agreement was eventually reached over the publication of the genome but the blatant disregard for the family is painfully obvious. Now two members of the Lacks family are present on the NIH panel that review applications to access this data.
When my son goes for his DTP immunizations at 2 months of age, I’ll remember that his life won’t be plagued by Polio, as a direct consequence from Henrietta Lacks existence.
I also reflect on how she was exploited even after her death and how the medical profession behaved detestably.
I should mention my inspiration for the thread is Rebecca Skloot’s Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks!
