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leroyjenkens
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I just read this article and began wondering if the woman hadn't died from cancer, would she have lived forever?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HeLa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HeLa
leroyjenkens said:I just read this article and began wondering if the woman hadn't died from cancer, would she have lived forever?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HeLa
zomgwtf said:AFAIK they aren't even human.
Andy Resnick said:HeLa cells are definitely of human origin. As a matter of fact, many *other* cells lines turned out to be thoroughly contaminated by HeLa cells:
http://www.atcc.org/ATCCAdvancedCatalogSearch/ProductDetails/tabid/452/Default.aspx?ATCCNum=CCL-2.2&Template=cellBiology
http://www.atcc.org/CulturesandProducts/CellBiology/MisidentifiedCellLines/tabid/683/Default.aspx
zomgwtf said:Negative. HeLa cells came from the cancer and AFAIK they aren't even human. These cells are what killed her, not made her immortal. If a person 'had these' cells in them they too would die. They would just out compete your human cells.
alxm said:There was an interesting book on the history of HeLa that came out recently, also an interesting http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123232331" .
Women's History Month: Writing Women Back into History
Henrietta Lacks
(1920-1951)
Henrietta Lacks, who lived in Maryland, did not know that she or her cancer cells would become famous when diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1951. Her cells (named HeLa) are known and used world-wide today to help find answers through scientific and medical research. Use of HeLa cells has lead to advancements in polio vaccine development, cancer, herpes, Parkinson's disease, and more.
Today, cervical cancer is highly preventable in most Western countries because screening tests and a vaccine to prevent human papilloma virus (HPV) infections are available. When cervical cancer is found early, it is highly treatable and associated with long survival and good quality of life.
CDC's National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP) provides access to breast and cervical cancer screening services to underserved women in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, five U.S. territories, and 12 tribes.
http://www.cdc.gov/Features/WomensHistory/
Med Sci (Paris). 2010 May;26(5):529-33.
[Requiem for henrietta.]
[Article in French]
Gilgenkrantz S.
S. Gilgenkrantz : 9, rue Basse, 54330 Clérey-sur-Brénon, France.
Abstract
Fifty years after Henrietta Lacks died of aggressive glandular cervical cancer, the first cell line - HeLa cell line - is the workhorse of laboratories everywhere. It helped to produce drugs for numerous diseases, including poliomyelitis, Parkinson's, leukemias. But they are so outrageously robust that they contaminated hundred of other cell lines, as far away as Russia. For decades, biologists worked with contaminated cell lines and today, the problem is not yet solved. But the story of HeLa cells is also a moving reflection of racial and ethical issues in medicine in the late half-twentieth century in the USA.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/e...ez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2009 Sep;133(9):1463-7.
Henrietta Lacks, HeLa cells, and cell culture contamination.
Lucey BP, Nelson-Rees WA, Hutchins GM.
Department of Neurology, Michael O'Callaghan Federal Hospital, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada 89191, USA.
Abstract
Henrietta Lacks died in 1951 of an aggressive adenocarcinoma of the cervix. A tissue biopsy obtained for diagnostic evaluation yielded additional tissue for Dr George O. Gey's tissue culture laboratory at Johns Hopkins (Baltimore, Maryland). The cancer cells, now called HeLa cells, grew rapidly in cell culture and became the first human cell line. HeLa cells were used by researchers around the world. However, 20 years after Henrietta Lacks' death, mounting evidence suggested that HeLa cells contaminated and overgrew other cell lines. Cultures, supposedly of tissues such as breast cancer or mouse, proved to be HeLa cells. We describe the history behind the development of HeLa cells, including the first published description of Ms Lacks' autopsy, and the cell culture contamination that resulted. The debate over cell culture contamination began in the 1970s and was not harmonious. Ultimately, the problem was not resolved and it continues today. Finally, we discuss the philosophical implications of the immortal HeLa cell line.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/e...ez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
Submitted to: European Study Group of Picornavirus-Korpilampi-Finland
Publication Type: Abstract
Publication Acceptance Date: November 1, 2006
Publication Date: November 26, 2006
Citation: Baxt, B. 2006. Picornavirus Molecular Pathology - Translating 50 Years of Molecular Biology to the Host. European Study Group of Picornavirus (EUROPIC) November 26, 2006. P. D1.
Technical Abstract: In 1951 a resident at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, removed cancerous cells from the cervix of Henrietta Lacks and brought them to George Gey, the head of tissue culture research at Hopkins. Gey thought he could use these cells to study cancer in vitro. Eight months later Henrietta Lacks died from cervical cancer, and on the day of her death Gey announced the generation of a cell line, he called HeLa, that would aid in the fight against cancer. While Gey never realized that dream, he found that HeLa cells would grow poliovirus to very high titers, allowing the production of a vaccine and the study of virus replication. Thus, the era of picornavirus molecular biology began. In the last 55 years we have seen an enormous growth of knowledge of the mechanisms of picornaviruses infection and replication in cells in culture. While this large group of RNA viruses has similar genomic and capsid structure, they cause of a wide variety of disease syndromes in both humans and animals. This review will examine our current knowledge of how some of these viruses interact with their host species and cause disease. We will also examine the role of the viral structural and non-structural proteins, as well as the role of host proteins in viral pathogenesis.
http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/Publications.htm?seq_no_115=200370
leroyjenkens said:Are her cancer cells any indication that her normal cells were anything special?
HeLa cells are a type of human cell line that was derived from the cervical cancer cells of Henrietta Lacks in 1951. They are significant because they were the first human cells to be successfully grown in a laboratory setting and have been instrumental in numerous scientific breakthroughs and medical advancements.
No, it is not possible for any human to live forever. While the HeLa cells have been able to reproduce indefinitely in a laboratory setting, they are still subject to the natural process of cell death and cannot survive outside of a controlled environment.
HeLa cells have been used in a wide range of research, including the development of the polio vaccine, cancer treatments, and gene mapping. They have also been used to study the effects of radiation, viruses, and toxins on human cells.
Yes, there have been ethical concerns surrounding the use of HeLa cells, particularly the lack of informed consent from Henrietta Lacks and her family. There have also been issues with commercialization and profiting from the cells without compensation to the Lacks family.
The Lacks family has been affected in various ways, including the lack of compensation for the use of Henrietta's cells and the ongoing ethical concerns surrounding her story. They have also faced privacy issues and have had to navigate the complexities of understanding the scientific advancements made possible by Henrietta's cells.