Henrietta Lacks, American Cancer Victim
Henrietta Lacks (1920-1951), was an African-American cancer victim and the unwitting donor of cells from her cancerous tumor, which were cultured by George Otto Gey to form a cell line for medical research. This is known as the HeLa cell line. HeLa cells are the first human cell line. They were obtained in 1951 from Lacks' cervix. She died of cervical cancer (epidermoid carcinoma) eight months later. HeLa cells thrive in laboratory conditions and are now used in cancer research worldwide. In 2013, when the HeLa genome was made available to the public for downloading, the Lacks family expressed concern for their genetic privacy and were finally given some control over the availability of HeLa cell research results. They also took the opportunity to officially consent to the gift of their grandmother's cells to medical research.
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