March is National Women’s History Month. In celebration, I plan to make one post a week featuring women that contributed significantly to science in Baltimore.
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I want to start with Henrietta Lacks, a woman from Turner Station whose cancerous cells were taken and turned into one of the most powerful scientific tools we have today. The tumorous cells that were removed from Henrietta’s cervix at Johns Hopkins Hospital during her treatment in 1951 were the first immortal human tissue cells to be cultured. First grown in the lab of George and Margaret Gey, Henrietta’s cells can be maintained indefinitely and have been used for countless experiments to study everything from cancer to the effects of atomic radiation on human tissue. Named HeLa, these cells led to advances in human genetics, such as the numbering of chromosomes, as well as to the cell culture, cloning, and in vitro fertilization methods we use today.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is an excellent read on the history of Henrietta and HeLa cells and highlights the moral and legal dilemmas of tissue collection. In her book, Skloot discusses how the Lacks family (who still reside in Baltimore) did not know about the use of HeLa cells until decades after their spread into laboratories around the world, and that while biotechnology companies that produce and sell HeLa continue to profit, the Lacks family has struggled with affording health insurance.
According to Skloot, there has never been an official effort by Johns Hopkins to honor Henrietta Lacks and her biological contribution to science. With the amazing press Skloot’s book has generated, I have a feeling this may change soon.
Filed in: Baltimore, Global Research, Local Research.
Tags: HeLa, Johns Hopkins, Tissue Culture, Women in Science
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