{"id":4310,"date":"2022-06-12T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-12T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/?p=4310"},"modified":"2022-06-01T07:42:16","modified_gmt":"2022-06-01T07:42:16","slug":"what-are-hela-cells-a-cancer-biologist-explains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernsciences.org\/staging\/4414\/what-are-hela-cells-a-cancer-biologist-explains\/","title":{"rendered":"What are HeLa cells? A cancer biologist\u00a0explains"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Cancer-causing viruses like HPV can cause cells to divide indefinitely and, in the case of Henrietta Lacks, become immortal.\n Tom Deerinck\/NIH via Flickr<\/a>, CC BY-NC<\/a><\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\nIvan Martinez<\/a>, West Virginia University<\/a><\/em><\/span>\n\n

In an amazing twist of fate, the aggressive cervical cancer tumor that killed Henrietta Lacks<\/a>, a 31-year old African American mother, became an essential tool<\/a> that helped the biomedical field flourish in the 20th century. As a cancer researcher<\/a> who uses HeLa cells in my everyday work, even I sometimes find it hard to believe. <\/p>\n\n

Lacks\u2019 cervical cancer cells, called \u201cHeLa\u201d after the first two letters of her first and last name, are immortal<\/a>, continuing to divide when most cells would die. This ability to survive through endless generations of cells is what makes them invaluable for scientists conducting experiments on human cells.<\/p>\n\n

Why HeLa cells matter<\/h2>\n\n

Before HeLa cells, scientists wanted a way to grow and study human cells in the lab to conduct studies that are impossible to do in a living person. When Lacks\u2019 cervical cancer cells were successfully grown in a petri dish in 1951<\/a>, scientists now had a source of cost-effective and easy-to-use cells that expanded their ability to conduct research. From polio<\/a> and COVID-19 vaccines<\/a> to cancer research<\/a> and sequencing the human genome<\/a>, HeLa cells have played an enormous role in many scientific discoveries and advancements.<\/p>\n\n

Henrietta Lacks\u2019 story is also an ongoing bioethics case<\/a>, because these cells were taken from her during a routine cervical cancer biopsy that was then given to researchers without her consent, as was common practice<\/a> at the time. The Lacks family has long attempted legal action<\/a> against companies they say have unfairly benefited from Henrietta\u2019s cells. A 2010 book<\/a> by journalist Rebecca Skloot details how HeLa cells affected both science and the Lacks family.<\/p>\n\n

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