Nothing could imagine the African-American girl, whose birth name was Loretta Pleasant, that the cells of a cancer tumor that would kill her at 31 years of age would become the HeLa cells , acronym for Henrietta Lacks, cells that until today are considered immortals.
Therefore it is necessary to make a site on our page with an article just for her, where we can explain which is more or less, more or less, because even scientists have not been able to completely decipher the incredible cellular peculiarity of cervical cancer that dramatically ended Henrietta's life.
The extraordinary case of Henrietta Lacks , or the immortal HeLa cells
Henrietta was born in August 1920 in Roanoke, Virginia.Her children and grandchildren never knew why she changed her name Loretta to Henrietta, the fact is that she was always known as Hennie.
She married her cousin David Lacks, which was a surprise to everyone because they considered that they had grown up as brothers.They had 5 children, the last of whom was born just four months before Henrietta was diagnosed with cancer, in 1951.She died in October of that same year.
That cervical tumor was totally different from all those who until that moment had seen Dr.Howard Jones, the gynecologist who was treating her.Before starting the treatment, cells from the carcinoma were removed for research purposes, and at that time no patient permission was needed or of his relatives.
After eight days, the doctor George Otto Gey took another sample of the tumor and kept it, and precisely from this sample the HeLa cells originate, or HeLa genome .
In 1973, some scientists contacted the descendants before Lacks to ask for a blood sample, and that's when they learned that Henrietta had cells removed and sent them to world-famous laboratories to do research.
HeLa cells were the first human cells that have been able to cultivate indefinitely in a laboratory , and constitute the first successful cell lineage grown in vitro.They are called immortal because they can be divided unlimitedly into a laboratory culture under ideal conditions; In slightly more scientific terms, while dividing, these cells have an active version of telomerase that gradually shortens the telomeres involved in the aging and death of cells.
That is, of this In this way, HeLa cells dodge the limit of Hayflick -a limited number of cell divisions that the vast majority of normal cells can do before they die in the laboratory culture-the reason for this cellular immortality? They are still looking for her.
The question is that HeLa cells do not die , on the contrary, they have been maintained since 1951, and today scientists have produced more than 30 tons of these cells both for scientific research and for treatments of various diseases, and even for infertility.
In fact, Dr.Jonas Salk developed a polio vaccine from HeLa, and have been used for research on cancer, AIDS, the effects of radiation and toxic substances and for genetic mapping; but they have also served to investigate human sensitivity to glue, adhesive tape, cosmetics and many other products.
Actually, HeLa cells have allowed an impressive advance in biomedicine, and even date more than 75,000 studies have been carried out on them .
The descendants will currently not receive any payment but will have some control over which scientists will have access to the genetic code of HeLa cells, and they will be recognized in the publications.Since in the 50's permission was not needed to extract cells from the bodies of patients, and that they are basically used for scientific research, the descendants only ask for recognition and respect. Jeri Lacks Whye , a granddaughter of Henrietta, said: "We are excited to be part of the HeLa science that is yet to come" .
Who know if these cells will also help you find the key to a much longer life.In any case, read our article about the scientist that altered their genes to rejuvenate, incredible!
Images: Oregon State University , Preservation Maryland, Euan, Penn State
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