HeLa Cells

Ok so I just learned about the coolest thing the other day. It’s been in the news a lot lately so maybe some of you have heard about it. They are HeLa cells. Ok, so there was this African-American woman named Henrietta Lacks who went to John Hopkins in 1951 because she had cervical cancer. She died soon after, but while she was there, the doctor took some cells from her tumor, without her knowledge or permission, cause that is what people did those days. Anyways these cells, for some reason, don’t die, so they’ve been replicated and used in so many scientific tests and discoveries it’s ridiculous. Cells from this woman helped develop the polio vaccine. They went into space. They’ve been used for research in gene mapping, cloning, and in vitro fertilization. These cells are still around. You can buy them online. Anyways there’s this great video about it you should be able to watch here
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6320043n&tag=morephotovideo

It was on CBS Sunday morning, one of my favorite shows. Anyways, they talk to Henrietta’s family, who have never been compensated or anything. In fact, one of her sons had bypass surgery, and doesn’t have health care, and now is in tons of debt.
There is also a new book out about it. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot. There’s an interview with the author of the book at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Henrietta-Lacks-Immortal-Cells.html

Anyways I just think it’s a really fascinating story.