Canvas of Hope

by sea turtle

Remembering Henrietta Lacks

A POOR mum from a slave family has been hailed for her incredible role in medical science – helping with the polio vaccine, Aids research, IVF developments… she was even the first person in space.

Henrietta Lacks died on this day in 1951, aged 31, and was buried in an unmarked grave, but her contribution to medicine is possibly greater than any other individual in history.

The tobacco farming mum-of-five was a descendant of slaves and died of cervical cancer in a segregated ward at John Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, as black and white patients were barred from mixing.

But research on Henrietta’s cancer cells – removed without her permission shortly before she died – has helped save countless lives.

As well as breakthroughs in polio, Aids and IVF, the cells have helped develop the cervical cancer vaccine, shed light on TB and salmonella and pushed forward gene therapy and stem cell techniques.

Her cells were the first to have their DNA mapped and were even shot into space in 1960 to test its potential effects on astronauts.

Known as HeLa cells – taken from the first letters of Henrietta’s names – they are still used in most labs across the globe and have made BILLIONS for the drugs industry.

The incredible story began in 1951, as Henrietta neared death. A small sample of tissue was taken from the malignant tumour – standard practice at the time.

Researchers, led by Dr George Gey, were astonished to see the cells grew at incredible speeds, and they did not die. Gey discovered the HeLa cells were cancerous, yet also had characteristics of healthy human cells.

They were easy to grow, simple to use and were the first so-called “immortal cell lines” in science – a perfect test material for medical treatments and new drugs

The same quality that made them so deadly to Henrietta made them ideal for research.

As Henrietta was laid to rest opposite her mother at a family burial plot in Clover, Virginia, USA, her “grown” cells were soon being sold to labs all over the world.

But there is still no clear explanation why her cells grew so well in the lab while others didn’t. Millions of patients have since benefited from the research.

If all of Henrietta’s “grown” cells were bundled together, they would weigh 50MILLION TONNES. Laid end to end, they would stretch around the Earth three times.

A new book revealing Henrietta’s story has prompted fierce debate, especially as it has emerged that her poverty-stricken family have received no compensation despite the vital role their loved one has played in medical history.

Last week the medical community formally acknowledged Henrietta for the first time.

At the HeLa Women’s Health Conference in Florida, she was praised as an “unsung hero of medicine” and members of her family were invited as guests of honour.

But it was not until 25 years after Henrietta’s death that husband David, who was also her first cousin, and her four surviving children – Deborah, David, Lawrence and Zakariyya – found out her cells had been removed and used for research. A fifth child, Elsie, died aged 16.

The family still live in Baltimore and are so desperately poor they could only dream of affording the medical treatments that Henrietta has made possible.

The new book – The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks, written by scientist Rebecca Skloot – is now being made into a Hollywood movie produced by Oprah Winfrey.

Rebecca became obsessed with HeLa cells during a school biology lesson. She explains: “My teacher said these amazing cells came from a woman who died in the Fifties. But she didn’t know any more about her – I wanted to know who she was.

“There’s not a single person in the world who hasn’t benefited from these cells in some way. Whether you’ve had a vaccine or taken tablets or medication, in some way Henrietta has made your life better.

“But there is still a lot of mystery around these cells. They have been intensely studied yet there is still no explanation as to why her cells grew while others didn’t.”

The book took 11 years to research and Rebecca, who lives in Chicago, was shocked by some of the facts she uncovered.

She says: “The family only found out about Henrietta’s cells in 1976. A group of scientists phoned asking to run tests on the family to see if cancer was passed down to her children. But they didn’t understand what they were talking about.

“To them it sounded like the researchers were saying, We’ve got your wife, she’s alive in a lab and we’ve been doing experiments on her for the last 25 years. Now we have to test your kids to see if they have Cancer.

“They were angry and confused. Her husband didn’t understand the term cell – he thought they had her in a prison cell.”

It wasn’t just the family that Dr Gey kept in the dark.

He hid Henrietta’s identity for years, telling officials and the Press the HeLa cells came from a woman called Helen Lane.

Only when one of the researchers died in the Seventies was her true identity uncovered

Rebecca says: “Soon after her name was revealed, Henrietta’s medical records were released to the Press without the family’s permission.

“Her daughter Deborah stumbled across a very graphic description of her mother’s autopsy, which she found deeply upsetting.

“The family found it hard to come to terms with the fact that bits of their wife and mother were being bought and sold across the globe.

“Deborah, who passed away last year, was deeply religious. She felt her mother’s soul was in these cells.

“Deborah would ask scientists, If you’re shooting my mother up to the moon and injecting her with chemicals, what’s going to happen to her in the afterlife? Can she rest in peace if you’re doing that?’”

HeLa cells were the first ever cells to be commercially sold. The family have battled for compensation cash but have not received a penny.

Rebecca explains: “Giving the family a payout would have opened a can of worms for the pharmaceutical industry. If the Lacks family received money, what about the other millions of people whose cells or blood samples have been used in research?

“Also, how much of the discoveries were down to the skills of the scientist and how much to the cells?

Despite the heartache and wrangling over cash, the family are now immensely proud of Henrietta.

Rebecca says: “They have made peace with it and now believe she lived on in these cells, helping cure people all over the world.

“Scientists and patients now come up to the family and say thank you. Cancer survivors write to them saying, ‘I wouldn’t be alive today if it wasn’t for your mother.”

Speaking at last week’s conference, Henrietta’s son David, 63, paid tribute to his mother.

He said: “It’s a turnaround. Now everybody is coming forward asking about our mother and helping us out on getting recognition.”

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