When she died at the age of 31, Henrietta Lacks had no idea her cancer cells would save the lives of millions of lives around the world years later.
Henrietta Lacks died of cervical cancer in 1951. Photo: Henrietta Lacks Foundation
Henrietta Lacks was born on August 1, 8 in Roanoke, Virginia, USA. At the age of 1920, the mother of five went to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore due to pain in her cervix and abnormal bleeding. On examination, the doctor discovered a tumor in her cervix. Just eight months after his diagnosis, on October 31, 5, Lacks died and was buried in an unknown grave, according to Newsweek.
During Lacks's time in the hospital, doctors took samples of her cancer cells and sent them to a lab for analysis. These cells are very unusual. While most human cells can only survive for a few days under laboratory conditions, Lacks' cells continue to grow and divide continuously as if they were immortal. This type of "immortality" is common in cancer cells, but Lacks' cells can reproduce particularly quickly. So they were used to create the first immortal human cell line, called HeLa cells, named after Lacks.
Over the past 7 decades, Hela cells have contributed to about 70.000 scientific studies, saving millions of lives. But Lacks never agreed to let researchers use her cells. It was not until decades later that her family learned the truth. In early August, the Lacks family finally reached an agreement to compensate her for her contribution to medical history.
Lacks' cells were used to increase understanding of the cervical cancer that claimed her life. In 1985, German scientists, led by Nobel scholar Harald zur Hausen discovered that HeLa cells contained many copies of human papilloma virus 18 (HPV-18), a dangerous strain of the virus that causes cervical cancer. . The discovery paved the way for the development of an HPV vaccine decades later. Currently, the HPV vaccine is very popular, helping to reduce the rate of cervical cancer in young women by two-thirds. HeLa cells are also used to develop treatments that slow cancer growth.
One of the earliest uses of HeLa cells was in the development of a polio vaccine. In 1953, a team from Johns Hopkins Hospital found that HeLa cells were an effective tool for growing large numbers of polio viruses, helping to better understand how they infect cells and cause disease. This research was later used in the development of a polio vaccine, which has prevented about 1,5 million child deaths around the world since 1988, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The researchers used HeLa cells extensively to understand the mechanism by which the HIV virus enters cells and how different drugs interact with the virus. Although scientists have not found a universal treatment for this disease, research on HeLa cells allows the development of drugs to limit the spread of the virus.
The DNA inside a human cell is sealed with a short piece of genetic material called a telomere. Telomeres protect chromosomes from tangling or rubbing, but they also become shorter with each cell division. Researchers believe that telomeres play an important role in cellular aging. HeLa cells are central to the discovery of that structure and broadening our understanding of the biological process of aging. In 2009, Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack Szostak won the Nobel Prize in Biomedical Sciences for their work in this area.
HeLa cells also indirectly enhance human understanding of the universe. Since 1964, HeLa cells have been sent into space to study the effects of radiation and space travel on human cells.
According to An Khang (VNE)
