by Ann Varner
This month we are writing about women who have made history in honor of Women’s History Month. As you’ve read the blogs, you’ve discovered some remarkable women who refused to accept no, stepped out of their comfort zone to demand equality, and who have opened doors for women today. However, what about the women who didn’t know they were making history? As a science major who is especially interested in genetics, I feel as though Henrietta Lacks is not recognized enough.
Henrietta Lacks was born in rural Virginia on a tobacco farm and after marrying, moved to Baltimore, Maryland. She gave birth to five children before realizing that something was “wrong” with her. At the time, Johns Hopkins was the only hospital that would treat African Americans. Henrietta went there to discover she had cervical cancer. In the 1950’s there were no consent forms for taking biological tissue, and most doctors felt that if they were going to treat African Americans, then they could take or do whatever they wanted. The doctor who diagnosed Henrietta with cervical cancer took a biopsy of the mass in her cervix and began to experiment with the cells without the consent of Henrietta or her family. He was trying to grow an “immortal line” of cells so that he could do research for medical purposes. To his surprise, her cells never died. In fact they kept growing and growing. They became “HeLa cells”.
Henrietta was treated for her cervical cancer and never told about her immortal cells. She died in 1951 in the hospital, never knowing what an enormous impact her cells were going to make on the world. Her cells, the HeLa cells, became the only cells researchers used. Her cells were used to create a polio vaccine, they were used to map the entire human genome, they were sent to outer space, and they are everywhere, even today. Henrietta Lacks and her cells are one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs there ever was. I only wish she was able to know that. If you are interested in reading her story, a fantastic book by Rebecca Skloot called The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is available. I strongly recommend reading it.