How did Rebecca Skloot become interested in Henrietta Lacks?

Skloot began investigating Lacks’ story in 1999 as a graduate student, following the trail blazed by HeLa cells through modern medicine. She uncovered previously unexplored details about Lacks’ life, and revealed how Lacks’ family was affected by her death and by the discovery years later of the HeLa cell line.

How are HeLa cells used in cancer research?

HeLa cells are used by scientists to develop a cancer research method that tests whether a cell line is cancerous or not. This method proves so reliable that scientists use it to this day. HeLa cells are taken aboard some of the very first capsules used to explore outer space.

Did Rebecca Skloot give money to the Lacks family?

Individual donations and the 56 grants of up to $10,000 each made to Lacks family members are confidential, Skloot said. She noted that she negotiated a significant HBO contribution this year as part of the movie deal.

What does skloot mean when she describes HeLa cells as immortal?

Skloot says Henrietta’s cells are immortal (p. 1), and then wonders what Henrietta would think about cells from her cervix living on forever (p. 2), so immortal refers to something that will never die or something that just keeps going on in some way.

What is the scientific importance of the Hela cells?

Over the past several decades, this cell line has contributed to many medical breakthroughs, from research on the effects of zero gravity in outer space and the development of the polio vaccine, to the study of leukemia, the AIDS virus and cancer worldwide.

Who does Rebecca Skloot keep a photo of on her wall?

Henrietta Lacks

What did most doctors during the 1950s think about carcinoma in situ?

In 1951 most doctors in the field believed that invasive carcinoma was deadly, and carcinoma in situ wasn’t. So they hardly treated it.

When Deborah holds her mother’s cells in her hands?

“She’s cold,” says Deborah Lacks, played by Oprah Winfrey. She says that because the vial contains cells directly descended from tissue taken from Deborah’s mother more than 50 years earlier. For Deborah, holding it is like holding her mother, who died when she was just 2. “You famous,” she says to the vial.

Where did Henrietta’s real name first appear in print?

Scientists use HeLa cells to help develop the polio vaccine. HeLa cells become the first cells ever cloned. The pseudonym “Helen Lane” first appears in print as the source of HeLa cells.

What is special about HeLa cells?

HeLa cells have the distinction of being the first immortal cell line cultured by scientists. Unlike a normal population of human cells, which divide about 40 to 50 times before dying away, HeLa cells have the remarkable ability to divide indefinitely.

Does everyone have HeLa cells?

Dr. Gey quickly realized that some of Lacks’ cells were different from normal cells. While those died, they just kept on growing. After more than 50 years, there are now billions and billions of HeLa cells in laboratories all over the world.

Who owns the HeLa cells?

Legally, Henrietta Lacks or her descendants cannot claim ownership from the point the cells left her body. They do, however, hold the right to know what the HeLa cells are being used for. Indeed, Francis Collins from the US National Institute of Health consulted with the Lacks family in 2013 and came to an agreement.

Why are HeLa cells controversial?

In Nature, Collins and Hudson pointed out that the genome of HeLa cells is not identical to Lacks’ original genome. The cells carry the changes that made them cancerous, and have undergone further changes over the time they have spent in cell cultures.

What differentiates HeLa cells from other human cells?

Hela cells have anywhere from 76 to 80 total chromosomes, which is different from other normal cells (total 46 chromosomes). The telomerase, which allows for addition of sequences at the end of chromosomes, is active during the process of HeLa cell division. So DNA will not be damaged and the cell does not die.

Are there any other cells like HeLa?

Some of them are normal cell lines (e.g. derived from stem cells). Other immortalised cell lines are the in vitro equivalent of cancerous cells. HeLa, the first-ever immortal human cell line, was taken from Henrietta Lacks (without informed consent) in 1951 at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.