Henrietta Lacks and the Immortal Cell Line

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Recommended: Stem cell ethical debate

The use of Henrietta Lacks cells has led to many scientific breakthroughs, e.g., the cure to polio, cloning, and the human genome project. Henrietta Lacks was an African American woman who died of cervical cancer in 1951. These cells underwent a mutation that caused them to become immortal, meaning that they continue to divide since her death in 1951 to this very day. However, her cells raise an ethical question, because before she died she did not give consent for scientists to use her cells and after she died they did not tell her family that they were using them. This has been an ongoing controversy because the cells have been so beneficial for society, but they are derived from shady procedures. The reason way Henrietta’s cells, HeLa cells, didn’t undergo apoptosis was that they were cancerous cells that replicated indefinitely and these cells were modified to be even more resistant due to other diseases Ms. Lacks had.
There are still many unknowns to the cause of an immortal cell line, but scientists do know it correlates with a mutation within the cell. In the case of Henrietta, the cells that were taken from her came from a tumor she had. These cells were place in vitro and began to divide endlessly and rapidly. The reason why the cells divided so rapidly was that Henrietta also had HPV and syphilis, which could have made the cells even stronger. The more prevalent question is why did her cells continue to divide after she had died? This question still has some gray areas, but scientists have a very good understanding on this topic. When the cells were kept in ideal conditions they continued to divide because just like cancerous cells the cells regulatory system malfunctions and apoptosis does not occur. In regular cells,...

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Works Cited

Anderson, Jessica Cumberbatch. "Henrietta Lacks' Family, Feds Reach Settlement On Use Of DNA Info." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 07 Aug. 2013. Web. 14 May 2014.
Andrews, Paul D. "Five Reasons Henrietta Lacks Is the Most Important Woman in Medical History." Popular Science. Bonnier, n.d. Web. 14 May 2014.
Cartwell, Alan. "Immortal HeLa Cells." Immortal HeLa Cells. Rense, 17 Feb. 2010. Web. 15 May 2014.
Freeman, Shanna. "How HeLa Cells Work." HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks.com, 10 Sept. 2012. Web. 15 May 2014.
Silver, Marc. "A New Chapter in the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks." National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 16 Aug. 2013. Web. 15 May 2014.
Skloot, Rebecca. "Rebecca Skloot Journalist, Teacher, Author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks." Rebecca Skloot FAQ Comments. Being Wicked, n.d. Web. 15 May 2014.

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