Lacks, Henrietta
1920-1951 · Contribution: 1951
Source of the HeLa cell line, the first immortalized human cell line
Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Impact on the world
Her cancer cells, taken and cultivated without her knowledge or consent in 1951, became the HeLa cell line, the first immortalized human cell line, which has since enabled countless major medical breakthroughs including the polio vaccine, cancer research, and COVID-19 vaccine development.
Life & background
Diagnosed with terminal cervical cancer in 1951, Lacks' cancer cells were taken and cultured by researchers without her or her family's knowledge or consent, becoming the HeLa cell line, the first human cells successfully kept alive and multiplying indefinitely in a lab. HeLa cells have since been used in research underlying the polio vaccine, cancer treatments, and many other medical advances, while her family received no compensation, raising lasting ethical questions about consent in medical research.
Sources
- Johns Hopkins Medicine (official Henrietta Lacks profile); NIH Office of Science Policy
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