The ‘Immortal’ Cells of Henrietta Lacks

Many technological and medical breakthroughs today were driven by HeLa cells, an immortal cell line that kept dividing and replicating itself since first sampling in 1951.

Henrietta Lacks was a Black woman who worked on a tobacco farm in South Virginia, and at the age of 30, she was diagnosed with aggressive cervical cancer. Her cells were harvested at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and sent to a cell biologist named George Gey. There, her cells were isolated, and to Gey’s surprise, Lacks’ cells continued to double and replicate at a phenomenal rate, whereas most human cells died after isolation from the human body. Lacks’ cells allowed medical researchers to pioneer experiments on identical tumor cells and understand branches of biology such as virology, oncology, pathology, etc. without endangering the human body.

A typical human cell divides and replicates itself to grow. Over time, repeated cellular divisions can result in genetic mutations and damage to the DNA. In response, human cells undergo apoptosis, also known as programmed cell death (PCD), which kills the cell in a controlled manner after approximately 50 divisions to prevent the propagation of genetic errors.

Another response is cellular senescence when the cell has suffered damage not critical enough to induce apoptosis. The cell will experience an arrest on its cell cycle to avoid uncontrolled proliferation as cancerous cells do.

The ability to evade apoptosis and or cellular senescence is what sets HeLa cells apart. While telomeres shortening has been associated with these cellular damage responses, the unique expression of genes TERT and TERC, responsible for telomerase production and activity, can rebuild telomeres by adding an immortal cell to its telomere after each division in HeLa and cancer cells, allowing continuous cell growth.

In addition, Human Papillomavirus (HPV), the root cause of cervical cancers, inserts its DNA into the hosts’ cells (HeLa cells) and produces a p-53 binding protein that inhibits and prevents repairs to mutations in the DNA and suppresses tumors, which contributes to the accumulation of ‘errors’ in the genome as it grows uncontrollably.

What is the Significance of HeLa Cells?

Compared to normal human cell lines that die after a few generations, HeLa cells could be cultivated endlessly in vitro by cell biologists. For this reason, HeLa cells have contributed to the development of Polio vaccines, cloning, chemotherapy, and research in HIV/AIDS.

During the Polio epidemic, HeLa cells could replicate the virus, opening up the possibility of vaccine experimentation. It was this cell line that Jonas Salk used to conduct trials for his inactivated Polio vaccine (IPV). In 1957, just 2 years after the vaccine’s licensing, annual cases of Polio dropped from 58,000 to 5,600. HeLa cells helped develop a new staining technique that allowed scientists to count the number of chromosomes in cells, which led to the discovery of 23 chromosome pairs, contrary to the former belief of 24 chromosome pairs.

Read THIS ARTICLE to learn more about the contribution of HeLa cells to medicine and biology. Nowadays, Henrietta Lacks’ descendants are contesting the misappropriation of the use of her cells. Watch THIS VIDEO to explore the social issues surrounding the exploitation of HeLa cells.

Works Cited

Black History in Two Minutes or so (2020). Henrietta Lacks: The Woman with the Immortal Cells. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3kR2dMCfOM [Accessed 24 Sep. 2023].

Faussadier, X. (2017). HeLa cells: Origin of this important cell line in life science research - Tebubio’s blog. [online] Tebubio. Available at: https://www.tebubio.com/blog/hela-cells-the-first-cell-line/. [Accessed 24 Sep. 2023].

Freeman, S. (n.d.). How HeLa Cells Work. [online] HowStuffWorks. Available at: https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/cellular-microscopic/hela-cell.htm [Accessed 24 Sep. 2023].

Knapp, S. (2021). HeLa Cells - The Definitive Guide | Biology Dictionary. [online] Biology Dictionary. Available at: https://biologydictionary.net/hela-cells/ [Accessed 24 Sep. 2023].

MacDonald, A. (2018). 5 Contributions HeLa Cells Have Made to Science. [online] Cell Science from Technology Networks. Available at: https://www.technologynetworks.com/cell-science/lists/5-contributions-hela-cells-have-made-to-science-305036 [Accessed 24 Sep. 2023].

SENS Research Foundation (2020). Overview of Cell Senescence. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0pdoazgNn8 [Accessed 24 Sep. 2023].

TED-Ed (2016). The immortal cells of Henrietta Lacks - Robin Bulleri. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22lGbAVWhro [Accessed 24 Sep. 2023].

Udayangani, S. (2022). What is the Difference Between HeLa Cells and Normal Cells. [online] Compare the Difference Between Similar Terms. Available at: https://www.differencebetween.com/what-is-the-difference-between-hela-cells-and-normal-cells/ [Accessed 24 Sep. 2023].

World Health Organization (2023). History of polio vaccination. [online] World Health Organization. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/history-of-vaccination/history-of-polio-vaccination [Accessed 24 Sep. 2023].