HeLa Cells: The Genes That Saved Generations

How can a single cell completely change the view of biology and medicine? This is the case for HeLa cells, derived from Henrietta Lacks, an African American diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1951. Her cells were the first "immortal cell" discovered at the time. Although this is not the only immortal cell, it is the first and a landmark for biology and medicine. 

HeLa cells are the center of groundbreaking achievements in the field of medicine, as mentioned by Dr. Thomas: 

"1. Development of the Polio vaccine 

2. Development of a novel method to stain and count chromosomes 

3. Discovery of Human Papilloma virus-18 (HPV-18) as the causative organism in Cervical cancer 

4. Studies on entry of SARS CoV-2019 into human cells using ACE-2 receptors 

5. Studies on Anti- cancer drugs including Tamoxifen (Breast cancer drug) 

6. Discovery of the enzyme Telomerase 

7. Studies of the effect of Zero Gravity (outer space) on cells" (Thomas, 2023). 

The discovered of the Cells is an important leap in the biology world as well as in the field of medical, with these achievements, the health of many people has been protected and many lives have been saved. In the article, Dr. Thomas also discussed about the ethical aspect and the significance of the HeLa cells. It is important to find a cure or a preventive way to protect people's health, but it is most important to do so ethically, which is why the Hippocrates Oath is taken for every Physician now. 

WORKS CITED

Thomas, A. (2023). HeLa Cells: The Genes That Saved Generations. MedBoundTimes Medical Journalism. https://www.medboundtimes.com/medbound-blog/hela-cells-the-genes-that-saved-generations 

Babraham Institute (2021). Reflecting on HeLa cells: 70 years on. Babraham Institute. https://www.babraham.ac.uk/blog/hela-cells 

Henrietta's Family Finally Gets a Say in Genetic Destiny

At John Hopkins Hospital in 1951, two thin silvers of tissue were removed from a Hernietta Lacks cervix. These cells were taken from a cancerous cervical tumor termed HeLa, which later multiplied wildly and continuously; which had never been seen before. Henrietta’s cells have become an enormous part for research genes that are the origin and that defeat cancer. Her amazing cells also aided in developing drugs that treat herpes, influenza, hemophilia, and even Parkinson’s disease. Other important medical advances were a polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and vitro fertilization.

After decades of using these cells to produce widespread discoveries on diseases, Henrietta Lacks and her family had no knowledge of what her cells were being used for. This meant that the companies using these cells were capitalizing on the discoveries created by Lacks' HeLa cells; while this proceeded for years, her family had received no compensation. Another huge issue that appeared this year for the Lacks family was that a German scientist mapped out the full HeLa genome and made the results public.  

 

HeLa Cells stained to highlight specific parts of each cell. 

The National Institute of Health and the Lacks' family have come to an agreement where the Lacks family has control of the access to the HeLa genome. This means that researchers who receive NIH funds will have to apply to use the data controlled by the Lacks. A laboratory that is not funded by NIH does not have to follow these rules. The Lacks family hopes that everyone can respect to their privacy. What if it was you or your family’s privacy that was being taken advantage of?

The privacy problem that the Lacks family is facing is not an unfamiliar problem. There are plenty of other cases where doctors and researchers are taking advantage of their patients left over bodily parts. It has been seen when a patients parents learned that an examiner had kept a part of their son’s brain. It also occurs often at hospitals where blood is drawn and tested. A report was issued in 1999 by RAND Corporations that says more than 307 million tissue specimens are stored in the United States and each year it grows.

  I feel that these specimens will help make a difference in our world. These things can find information on certain medical issues; medications can be made, and even cures to diseases through these “stolen” specimens. People do have the right to their privacy, but why stop the progression of science. It’s as though most people are not as worried about the good that is coming from these specimens but the money that they are missing out on. People need to see the bigger picture of what we can do for other people and our future. I respect that people have want their privacy; and feel that it is a good beginning to a privacy act between the agreement with the Lacks family and the NIH. We learn a lot from specimens that are donated or used unknowingly. Hopefully one day we can eliminate this problem and come up with a proper understanding.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/07/health/henrietta-lacks-genetic-destiny/index.html?iref=allsearch

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/08/130816-henrietta-lacks-immortal-life-hela-cells-genome-rebecca-skloot-nih/

Famous "HeLa" Human Cell Line Gets Its DNA Sequenced

HeLa cells, immortal cells taken from the deadly cervical tumor form Henrietta Lacks, has been sequenced by researchers. The cells were established in 1951 after Lacks died of her cancer. These cells were the first cells to survive in the lab after more than a couple of days. The cells have contributed to much research including to the development of the polio vaccine as well as more than 60,000 research papers. These cells have been replicated in many labs around the world for six decades.

The genome of the HeLa cell line has been sequenced by a team at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany lead by geneticist Lars Steinmetz. His team confirmed that HeLa cells contain one extra version of most chromosomes, with up to five copies of some. It was also found that large segments of chromosome 11 and many other chromosomes had massive rearrangements, which could be contributed to the cervical tumor. With the genome now sequenced and showing to be full of errors Steinmetz brings of the question of its continued use as models for human cell biology. Having been replicated for so long the cell has evolved, the cell has accumulated errors that are not present in the original tumor DNA.



http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=famous-hela-human-cell-line-gets-its-dna-sequenced&print=true