Henrietta Lacks was a tobacco grower in Virginia. In 1951, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. The woman decided to undergo treatment at the John Hopkins Hospital, which was one of the few that treated black patients at the time. It was there that the decision was made, which turned out to be the driving force behind changes in the field of medicine.
- Henrietta Lacks, who lived more than half a century ago, is responsible for breakthroughs in the field of medicine
- However, she was not a doctor or scientist, and the entire trial took place without her consent
- Tissues collected from Henrietta were used, among others, in to make a polio vaccine. They also flew into space
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Who was Henrietta Lacks?
Before treatment was started, one of the doctors removed a piece of her tissue without Henrietta Lacks’ consent. He then donated the material to George Gey, who had been trying to grow cells outside of the human body for many years. His efforts were always unsuccessful. Up to that point.
Lacks cells never “died”. In the laboratory at John Hopkins Hospital, they began to multiply. Eventually, Gey, who handled the case, began informing friends that he had managed to obtain the first immortal cell line.
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It met with great interest. Lots of doctors started asking him if they could get a sample from him for their own research. He himself did not mind, and thus his discovery found its way to laboratories all over the world.
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Cell research has turned out to be the basis of the great world revolution of which we ourselves are beneficiaries. The “immortal” Lacks cells led to the invention of the polio vaccine, among other things. They also flew into space. Not only that, the cells have been cloned. Lacks genes were among the first ever to be mapped. They also improved the method of in vitro fertilization and other vaccines.
Henrietta Lacks died the same year she began treatment at John Hopkins Hospital. She was 31 years old. She left unaware that her death and cells would be of such great importance in the development of mankind. Henrietta’s family learned the whole story relatively recently. BBC reported that everyone is proud of the achievements to which she has contributed and will be consulted on future research.
In October 2021, Lacks was posthumously awarded by the World Health Organization (WHO).
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