Life
Henrietta Lacks finally gains recognition as source of HeLa cells
Henrietta Lacks in a 1940’s photo. PHOTO/The Henrietta Lacks Foundation
Henrietta Lacks gains recognition, however, no financial compensation is paid to her descendants despite her HeLa cells enabling many multinationals make billions of dollars
Sixty-two years ago, scientists harvested cancer cells from an African American tobacco farmer which were used for some of the biggest breakthroughs in medical science – all without her knowledge or consent.
The abnormally resilient cells were taken from Henrietta Lacks shortly before she died and used for decades without her family’s knowledge, spawning Nobel-winning discoveries and a multi-million-dollar industry that yielded the polio vaccine, cloning, in-vitro fertilization and many medicines.
It became the most widely used human cell line used by researchers and made Lacks a giant contributor to medical science, albeit unwittingly.
Now, six decades after her death, Lacks’ descendants are paving the way yet again, this time helping to lay the groundwork for ethical use of genetic data obtained in the name of research.
On Wednesday, authorities announced they had finally reached an agreement with Lacks’ family for the continued, though controlled, use of the cells’ genomic data, which was published on the same occasion.
“It is truly fitting, given the priceless contributions that Henrietta Lacks has made to science and medicine, that her story is now catalyzing enduring changes in policy,” Francis Collins, director of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), told journalists.
“We should all count Henrietta Lacks and her family among the greatest philanthropists of our time if we consider how they have contributed to the advancement of science and human health.”
