The First Immortal Cell Line - Essay Example

Discuss the history (1000 words) and philosophy (1000 words) of how the first immortal cell linewas created from cervical cancer cells of Henrietta Lacks. Henrietta Lacks was an African American tobacco worker from Southern Virginia when at the age of thirty she got diagnosed with cervical cancer. She went for treatment at John Hopkins Hospital where unknown to her, her doctor took a sample of cells from her tumor and sent it down to the lab where scientists had been working for decades trying to grow tissues in cultures. For reasons unknown to science, her tissues never died and they still live. Henrietta’s cells were the first ever immortal human cells which later proved to be essential in the development of polio vaccinations. They went up in the first ever spaceship sent out of the earth’s atmosphere to determine what happened when human tissue was exposed to zero gravity. Her cells live on, and since 1951 her cells have been used for in vitro fertilization, gene mapping and cloning. Henrietta’s cells, when first put in a petri dish produced a new generation every twenty four hours. HeLa cells, as Lacks cells have come to be known were initially a part of the research into the genes that are cancer causing and the ones that can suppress it. They have so far been used in development drugs for the treatment of leukemia, herpes, hemophilia, influenza and Parkinson’s disease. They have also provided the basis to study and learn more about sexually transmitted diseases (STD’s), lactose digestion, the bacteria that causes appendicitis, human longevity, mosquito mating, along with the negative cellular effects of working in sewers. Scientists have studied her cells for her DNA and chromosomes in such detail that they are now familiar with every niche and corner of the spiral that keeps replicating to keep the cells alive.(Skloot, R. 2010 )A high school biology teacher quoted that HeLa’s cell were the most important thing to happen to medical science in the past century. The interesting facts about Henrietta Lacks cells are not widely known but it was discovered that her chromosomes were incompatible with humans. Does this mean that the cells belong to a whole different species? Also, how do HeLa cells replicate and contaminate other cells in laboratory, almost like how weeds in the garden push their way through plants. No other human cells have so far ever been able to behave in this way. The ecological niche of those cells in not just limited to the human body but they have survived for many years outside showing us their ability to expand beyond human cultivation. Carcinoma in situ describes an abnormal growth of cells. Abnormal growth occurs when the stop button in cell growth is broken down and mitosis occurs repeatedly. Since it all started with cancer cells of a woman, we should take a look at the disease that caused scientists to spend so much effort on research. Uncontrolled growth of abnormal body cell is known as malignant cells are known as cancer. Cells in our body form tissues, which later on come together to build organs, so cells are known as the building blocks of life. Even the smallest living microbes have cells. ("History, Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places | Smithsonian Magazine." History, Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places | Smithsonian Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2012). The cells in the body have a life cycle, they die and new cells are made in order to replace the previous dead cells until death. Cancer occurs when normal healthy cells suddenly start reproducing without stopping. Sometimes the shape of the cells also starts to change, for example in leukemia, also known as blood cancer, the shape of the red blood cells changes from concave to lunar thus making it inefficient to carry out respiration. This is exactly what happened to Lacks. Her cells in the cervical started reproducing at a very fast rate. This is how doctors were able to do research on them. Definition: ‘Cervical cancer is cancer that starts in the cervix, the lower part of the uterus (womb) that opens at the top of the vagina.’ (A.D.A.M Medical Encyclopedia) The third most common kind of cancer in women is cervical cancer that starts in the cells on the surface of the cervix. All of these cancers related to the cervix are caused by the Human Papilloma Virus which is a sexually transmitted disease whose carriers are men but the cancer develops in women. Since Henrietta Lacks was a tobacco farm working from a poor community, chances are that she did not even realize it was cancer in the early stages. Even her doctor first referred her to be tested for syphilis which was a very common sexually transmitted disease in the colored communities in the United States due to unsafe practice. Henrietta lack’s cell somehow is equipped with an active version of telomerase during cell division that prevents the shortening of telomerase which is connected with ageing of the cell. Since HeLa cells are surprisingly very well adapted to growing in tissue culture in laboratories there have been contamination problems with it. Since scientists are still unclear about the other nature of cells that grows in laboratories it is not known how many other cells have HeLa cells have contaminated so far. Philosophy behind the research on Henrietta Lacks Cell The first question that comes to mind when you read about the research that is still being conducted from the last 25 years on a black woman’s cell after her death is that if this is right morally, regardless of whether it has benefited mankind or not. As mentioned earlier, the cells out of the tumor of cervical cancer in Henrietta were extracted by the doctor in John Hopkins Hospital, unknown to her, and then sent off the laboratory to be experimented on. It can be called a twist of fate, that God had meant for us to discover the great use of her cells that would prove so valuable in the future of medical science in savings us and giving us more hope for our ailments like the first polio vaccine was tested on her cells. The moral issue that encompasses us today is that whether Henrietta would have chosen to have her cells and genetic material used this way? Especially now that her cells have been used in cloning, animals and efforts to clone human beings are underway, which is another issue that people feel very strongly about. Was it racial injustice? Maybe if she had benefited financially or medically and had received treatment for her cancer in lieu of her cells that would have made it right to some extent, her family, who were extremely poor and overworked never received any compensation for the billions of dollars that the genetic industry earned after they were introduced to HeLa’s cells. Her cells were nicknamed HeLa so as to hide the identity of the person who gave them such miraculous cells. There did come a time when the news reporters were pretty close to discovering the true identity of the owner of the genetic material in the cells so the scientist quickly named a woman known as Helen Lane, claiming that those were her cells and obviously stated that they were obtained by using the legal channels. Again, is it right to deny the credit to the right person? These are never ending debates. How most people state is that it does not matter where the source of the solution to a problem comes from, but what matter is the final solution. More commonly referred to as, ‘all is well that ends well’. But HeLa’s cells actually belong to a breathing human, who left behind a family who mourned her death. The most burning questions are, she is still alive because her cells live on? Our body is composed of millions of different cells which make us human. When we get a cut on our skin, our epithelial cells are damaged causing us to feel pain. No one organ makes us alive. Is Henrietta still, but just alive? Religions of most cultures agree that human genetic material should not be used for experimentation because it is a part of the life that God gave to mankind and we should not be using it. Cloning, another use which Henrietta’s cells have been put is the creation of an organism which is an exact genetic replica of the organism. Clones have been around for a while in the scientific world now, to save the best features, breed cows for high protein and milk production and so on. Dolly was the first sheep to be cloned and the idea derived from HeLa cells. If a couple of cells can keep reproducing over time through mitosis then why can’t a bigger multicellular organ reproduce the same way? Human cloning, which the HeLa cells have played a significant role is a very controversial topic in society. Whereas animal cloning is bad enough, human cloning could prove devastating for the clone and the society. For example, if they clone a human child in a laboratory, that human will have feelings. Will anybody, despite the genetic connection, accept that child? Will it ever be able to have a family, have friends and live a normal life? The answer is probably no. We all our born related to somebody, so when we grow up we can relate to them. Henrietta cells were initially used to understand cancer, which probably helped to prevent and cure many cases of cancer. But as the field of genetics is expanding, her cells have been tested for drugs, cloning and many other things. Also, when various kinds of disease are exposed to the sample of HeLa’s cells, the cells obviously become infected with it. At the same time, we see that the issue of HeLa’s cell contaminating everything else in the laboratory is becoming a nuisance. Could more diseases spread in mankind because somebody ‘accidently’ let the cells be exposed to other mediums which can then be transmitted to a human being? For instance, many bacteria, like MRSA, have become resistant to antibiotics because they have been tested and used so extensively that the more resistant strains have now come to life. By continuous experimentation, are we making life more difficult or easy for ourselves? Diseases like Acquired Immunodeficiency disease (AIDS) have spread like wildfire in the past half a century despite the advancements in medical science. Thanks to HeLa’s cells, today lives are longer what they were fifty years ago, but at what cost? Are we striving for quantity of life versus quality of life? Talking of all the ethical issues related to the problems caused by HeLa’s cells it might be interesting to note that before vaccinations became common, cancers were practically unheard of expect in people who were morally so downtrodden that they participated in unethical sex. After the introduction of vaccinations, more diseases were on the rise. The point to stress here is that, the vaccinations were introduced after they were successfully tested on HeLa’s cells. The never ending debate remains forever, and what remains a greater mystery is that what would have Henrietta thought if she was alive to see how her body’s cells were being used. Works Cited "History, Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places | Smithsonian Magazine." History, Travel, Arts, Science, People, Places | Smithsonian Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology." MIT - Massachusetts Institute of Technology. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. . "Cell Immortalization, Viable Human Tissue, cDNA ORF Clones and other biological products at Capital Biosciences, Inc." Cell Immortalization, Viable Human Tissue, cDNA ORF Clones and other biological products at Capital Biosciences, Inc. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. . "Cell Immortalization, Viable Human Tissue, cDNA ORF Clones and other biological products at Capital Biosciences, Inc." Cell Immortalization, Viable Human Tissue, cDNA ORF Clones and other biological products at Capital Biosciences, Inc. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. . "Learn.Genetics™." Learn.Genetics™. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. . Skloot, R. (2010). The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks. New York: Crown Publishers. "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2012. Read More