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HeLa Cells

HeLa cells are cancer cells taken from Henrietta Lacks in 1951. Normally, cancer cells would divide a few times before dying. However, these specific cells kept dividing so long as they were fed with the right mixture of nutrients. These cells were thus “immortal” and responsible for numerous medical breakthroughs. 


HeLa cells have become the most widely used human cell line in biological research. They were used in 1954 to develop the polio vaccine and were also used in the 1980s to identify and isolate the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Over 70000 studies of research have been published involving the use of HeLa cells, and at least two Nobel Prizes have been awarded. 


HeLa cells have provided scientists and researchers a human cell line to conduct their research for the past 70 years. Without these cells, many medical breakthroughs would not have been possible. 


However, there was also an ethical lapse in obtaining these cells. Henrietta Lacks’s surgeon conducted a biopsy without her approval or knowledge, a shocking oversight that led to many changes in ethical ground rules in the US.


Sources: 

https://www.immunology.org/hela-cells-1951

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/henriettalacks/importance-of-hela-cells.html

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