The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Essay Example

English 20 April The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Henrietta lacks was a poor African American tobacco farmer. In 1951, when she was only thirty one she was diagnosed with cervical cancer which eventually killed her. Despite being buried in an unmarked grave in Virginia, Henrietta’s cells took an eternal life and she is now alive more than ever. Her cells live on in research laboratories all over the world providing priceless leads to scientists studying the genetic changes that can change a normal cell into a malignant one. All over the world Henrietta Lack’s cells continue to divide incessantly day after day. They have been influential in research and continue to help save millions of lives all over the world. Before her death, a biopsy sample of her tumor was taken by Dr. George Gey who was then the head of tissue culture research at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland without her permission. The doctor had been trying to grow human cells within glass for sometime without success. All cells he used before would die off immediately after a few weeks in culture and only dividing once or twice. Henrietta’s cells were exceptional; they divided vigorously taking up an independent existence. The cells were named HeLa cells after the first two letters of Henrietta’s first and last names. The use of human tissues for experimentation and research without the consent of the patient is a violation of ethical principles justice and informed consent in medical research. This is particularly serious when the violation is in relation to disadvantaged and minority populations for example the African Americans (Serlin et al. 54). In the case of Henrietta, her cells had been given a name and used for about twenty four years after her death without her family’s knowledge, the family was shocked to learn that all this time her cells were alive and had circulated all over the world. According to a statement from Johns Hopkins, the practice of obtaining informed consent from cell or tissue donors was essentially unknown among academic medical centers and cells from Henrietta’s tissue were taken during that time. The laboratory that received her cells had arranged many years earlier to obtain such cells from patients suffering from cervical cancer and use them as a way of doing research about the disease. Johns Hopkins did not patent the HeLa cells or use them commercially for financial benefits. Since then Johns Hopkins and other research-based medical centers always obtain consent from donors of tissue and cells for scientific research. HeLa cells became one of the most important tools in medicine. They have been significant in developing the polio vaccine, gene mapping, cloning, in vitro fertilization, AIDS research, toxicity testing and a range of other research. Many advances in cell physiology, cancer research, genetics and treatment are made through the use of cells grown outside the body. In 1966 a geneticist known as Stanley Gartler discovered that eighteen cell lines they were working on with other researchers had been contaminated and taken over by HeLa cells. In 1976, eleven additional cell lines widely used in research were also found to be contaminated with HeLa and by 1981 more cell lines had been contaminated with HeLa. The presence of HeLa cells in other cell lines is evidence to the unrestrained and vigorous nature of some cancer cells. In 1952, a prototype polio vaccine was developed by a research scientist known as Jonas Salk at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School. This was with the support of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. The prototype polio vaccine was developed using killed strains of the poliomyelitis virus. Initial experiments with the vaccine were assuring and with the results the Foundation focused on undertaking a massive clinical trial. Sweat labor and knowledge as well as tissue and blood from African Americans were used to advance the cure for polio. HeLa cells which were the first human cell line to be established in pure cell cultures were chosen as the host cell to measure antibody activity. This is because to ensure safety of the vaccine, researchers need to measure the amount of antibodies produced by the prototype polio vaccine three types of poliovirus antigen (Serlin et al. 53). Gene mapping is the determination of genes sequence and their respective distances from one another on a specific chromosome. HeLa cells were used to discover that humans have forty six chromosomes in twenty three pairs. They have been used in the identification of chromosomes and genes in somatic cell hybrids controlling the tumorigenicity in cervical cancer. There is wide interest in this cell line and experienced cytogeneticists have invested considerable efforts to characterize in detail the chromosomes of HeLa and derivative lines. Staining techniques of G-banding and FISH with chromosome painting probes are used although they have their limitations. FISH with chromosome painting probes is mostly used as a confirmation method; it requires previous knowledge of cytogenetic abnormalities. Advanced molecular cytogenetic techniques applied to the analysis of HeLa chromosomes provides the complete and definitive cytogenetic profile of HeLa cells. Cell cloning is the process of making an exact copy of a cell. Cell cloning is used in basic research and growth of replacement organs. The use of HeLa cells in cloning has an assurance of cell survival unlike other cells that die after sometime. There is also a fundamental difference between a clone of HeLa cancer cells and the collection of cells that comprised the body of Henrietta lacks. Cultured HeLa cells function independently of one another, whereas the cells of Henrietta’s body functioned together as organs (Hughes 3). The degree of functional independence among replicated tissues and cells is a vital consideration in the determination of a clonal process. Some cell biologists use the uniqueness of a cells genetic function rather than genetic combination as the benchmark for cloning. Before Henrietta’s cells experimented in vitro, researchers had failed each time they tried experimenting with other cells. The cells would die immediately after dividing only once or twice. Advances in technology have enabled mammalian cells and tissues to be cooled to extremely low temperatures with comparative ease (Ashcroft 298). The process of in vitro fertilization was first developed in animals. After successful trials using HeLa cells, the technique is now regularly used in in vitro fertilization in humans. Multiple eggs are taken from a woman, they are then fertilized in vitro and two or three of the embryos that develop after this are transferred back into the womb. Cell culture is used to test for toxicity by estimation of the primary functions of the cell. General toxicity tests are carried out on many cell types which include HeLa cells. Toxicity tests are used to detect the biological activities of test substances. Vital staining, cytosolic enzyme release, cell growth and cloning are all parameters used as checks to measure toxicity. HeLa cells are used in testing organ specific toxic effects, this is because they are specialized and are so far the best cells for research due to their ability to stay immortal. Moral and ethical issues surrounding HeLa cells and other cell lines from humans are still much debated. Since the 1950s, the process of naming cell lines has changed; the aim of the change is to prevent people from finding out about the person from who cells come from. Attempts to use other names like Helen lane were made to maintain anonymity around HeLa cells. Despite this Henrietta lacks family still got to known about the existence of cells from their beloved mother and how much the cells have helped save lives worldwide despite killing her. Works Cited Tobin, Allan, and Jennie Dusheck. Asking About Life. California: Thomson Learning, 2005. Print. Spencer, Juliet. Cervical Cancer. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2007. Print. Sherwood, Lauralee. Human Physiology: From Cells to Systems. California: Cengage Learning, 2012. Print. Serlin, David et al. Imagining Illness: Public Health and Visual Culture. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 2011. Print. Hughes R. N., and Roger Hughes. A Functional Biology of Clonal Animals. New York: Chapman and Hall, 1989. Print. Ashcroft, Frances. Life at the Extremes: The Science of Survival. California: University of California Press, 2002. Print. Johns Hopkins Medicine. “A Statement from Johns Hopkins Medicine about HeLa Cells and Their Use.” Johns Hopkins Medicine. Johns Hopkins, 2010. Web. 20 April 2012 . Macville et al. “Comprehensive and Definitive Molecular Cytogenetic Characterization of HeLa Cells by Spectral Karyotyping.” 20 April 2012. . Web. 2012. Cantwell, Alan. “Immortal HeLa Cells and the Continuing Contamination of Cancer and Vaccine Research.” 20 April 2012. < http://www.rense.com/general89/immot.htm.>. Web. 2010. Wellcome Trust. “Quick Guide to HeLa cells.” Wellcome Trust, 2012. Web. 20 April 2012. . Read More