The sequence of the HeLa cell line's mtDNA (and hence Henrietta's mtDNA) has been published and falls in the 元b1a1 haplogroup. The family questioned this, which led to them learning about the removal of Henrietta's cells. In the early 1970s, the family of Henrietta Lacks started getting calls from researchers who wanted blood samples from them to learn the family's genetics (eye colors, hair colors, and genetic connections). Scientists have grown some 20 tons of her cells, and there are almost 11,000 patents involving HeLa cells. Since they were put into mass production, Henrietta's cells have been mailed to scientists around the globe for "research into cancer, AIDS, the effects of radiation and toxic substances, gene mapping, and countless other scientific pursuits." HeLa cells have been used to test human sensitivity to tape, glue, cosmetics, and many other products. In 1955, HeLa cells were the first human cells successfully cloned. To test Salk's new vaccine, the cells were quickly put into mass production in the first-ever cell production factory. By 1954, the HeLa strain of cells was being used by Jonas Salk to develop a vaccine for polio. Īs reporter Michael Rogers stated, the growth of HeLa by a researcher at the hospital helped answer the demands of the 10,000 who marched for a cure to polio shortly before Lacks' death. This represented an enormous boon to medical and biological research. As the first lab-grown human cells that were "immortal" (they do not die after a few cell divisions), they could be used for conducting many experiments. Gey named the sample HeLa, after the initial letters of Henrietta Lacks' name. George Gey was able to isolate one specific cell, multiply it, and start a cell line. Scientists spent more time trying to keep the cells alive than performing actual research on the cells, but some cells from Lacks's tumor sample behaved differently from others. Gey "discovered that cells did something they'd never seen before: They could be kept alive and grow." Before this, cells cultured from other cells would only survive for a few days. Her cells were cultured by Gey to create the first known human immortal cell line for medical research. Like most cervical cancers, Henrietta's was caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). The cabin was built of hand-hewn logs and pegs that was once the slave quarters of their ancestors. Henrietta was buried in an unmarked grave next to her mother, near the house where her grandfather had raised her. They described her bladder as looking like one solid tumor. Doctors performed an autopsy that revealed firm white lumps studding her body: her chest cavity, lungs, liver, and kidney. She died just after midnight on 04 October 1951. On 08 August 1951, Henrietta was readmitted to Johns Hopkins Hospital for what would be the last time. Not informing the patient was an ordinary practice at the time, and Gey routinely collected samples from all the hospital's cancer patients for his research. Without her knowledge or consent, a tissue sample was obtained from her growing (and soon-to-be fatal) tumor for medical research by Dr. At Hopkins her cervical cancer was misdiagnosed. She sought medical treatment at the world-famous Johns Hopkins Hospital, because it was the only hospital within 20 miles of her home that would accept black patients. Ten years later she was the mother of five children, but seriously ill. Loretta Henrietta "Henny" Pleasant married on in Clover, Virginia, USA to David "Day" Lacks, her first cousin. In more recent writings, she has sometimes erroneously been referred to as Henrietta Lakes, Helen Lane or Helen Larson. Everyone who knew her called her Henrietta or Henny. Henrietta Lacks was born Loretta Henrietta Pleasant on 01 August 1920 in Roanoke City, Virginia, USA, and her parents were Eliza Lacks and Johnny Pleasant.
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