Henrietta Lacks was an African-American tobacco farmer whose cancer cells ware used as the source of the HeLa cell line, which has the distinction of being the first immortalized cell line.
Owing to this, she has become a notable figure in the history of medicine and medical research. Under particular conditions, the immortalized cell lines will propagate forever and the HeLa cell line serves as one of the most important sources of medical data even today.
Henrietta Lacks Bio
Born on August 1, 1920, in Roanoke, Virginia, Henrietta, Lacks’ original name at her birth was Loretta Pleasant. Her family does not know when and why her name was changed from Loretta to Henrietta.
After the death of her mother in 1924, Henrietta was sent to live with her grandfather in a log cabin that had been the slave quarters of a white ancestor’s plantation.
Henrietta Lacks shared a room with her first cousin, David “Day” Lacks.
In 1935, the cousins had a son they called Lawrence. Henrietta was 14. The couple had a daughter, Elsie, in 1939, and married in 1941.
Henrietta and David moved to Maryland at the urging of another cousin, Fred Garret. There, they had three more children: David Jr., Deborah and Joseph.
They placed their daughter Elsie, who was developmentally disabled, in the Hospital for the Negro Insane.
On January 29, 1951, Lacks went to Johns Hopkins Hospital to diagnose abnormal pain and bleeding in her abdomen. Physician Howard Jones quickly diagnosed her with cervical cancer.
During her subsequent radiation treatments, doctors removed two cervical samples from Lacks without her knowledge. She died at Johns Hopkins on October 4, 1951, at the age of 31.
HeLa Cells
The cells from Lacks’s tumor made their way to the laboratory of researcher Dr. George Otto Gey. Gey noticed an unusual quality in the cells. Unlike most cells, which survived only a few days, Lacks’s cells were far more durable.
Gey isolated and multiplied a specific cell, creating a cell line. He dubbed the resulting sample HeLa, derived from the name Henrietta Lacks.
The HeLa strain revolutionized medical research. Jonas Salk used the HeLa strain to develop the polio vaccine, sparking mass interest in the cells. As demand grew, scientists cloned the cells in 1955.
Since that time, over ten thousand patents involving HeLa cells have been registered. Researchers have used the cells to study disease and to test human sensitivity to new products and substances.
Henrietta Lacks Husband
David Day Lacks was the husband and first cousin of Henrietta Lacks.
Henrietta Lacks Children
She left behind five children, They are , Deborah Lacks, Elsie Lacks, Zakariyya Bari Abdul Rahman, Lawrence Lacks, David Lacks, Jr.
Henrietta Lacks Parents
Her father’s name was Johnny Pleasant and her mother’s name was Eliza Pleasant, née Lacks.
Henrietta Lacks Siblings
She had nine siblings, including brothers Lawrence, John Randall II, Henry, and Charles, and sisters Gladys and Lillian.
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