Wonder Woman: The Life, Death, and Life After Death of Henrietta Lacks, Unwitting Heroine of Modern Medical Science

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Wonder Woman

The Life, Death, and Life After Death of Henrietta Lacks, Unwitting Heroine of Modern Medical Science

Photo courtesy the Lacks family

Henrietta Lacks

By Van Smith | Posted 4/17/2002

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On Feb. 1, 1951, Henrietta Lacks--mother of five, native of rural southern Virginia, resident of the Turner Station neighborhood in Dundalk--went to Johns Hopkins Hospital with a worrisome symptom: spotting on her underwear. She was quickly diagnosed with cervical cancer. Eight months later, despite surgery and radiation treatment, the Sparrows Point shipyard worker's wife died at age 31 as she lay in the hospital's segregated ward for blacks.

Not all of Henrietta Lacks died that October morning, though. She unwittingly left behind a piece of herself that still lives today.

While she was in Hopkins' care, researchers took a fragment of Lacks' tumor and sliced it into little cubes, which they bathed in nutrients and placed in an incubator. The cells, dubbed "HeLa" for Henrietta Lacks, multiplied as no other cells outside the human body had before, doubling their numbers daily. Their dogged growth spawned a breakthrough in cell research; never before could investigators reliably experiment on such cell cultures because they would weaken and die before meaningful results could be obtained. On the day of Henrietta's death, the head of Hopkins' tissue-culture research lab, Dr. George Gey, went before TV cameras, held up a tube of HeLa cells, and announced that a new age of medical research had begun--one that, someday, could produce a cure for cancer.

When he discovered HeLa could survive even shipping via U.S. mail, Gey sent his prize culture to colleagues around the country. They allowed HeLa to grow a little, and then sent some to their colleagues. Demand quickly rose, so the cells were put into mass production and traveled around the globe--even into space, on an unmanned satellite to determine whether human tissues could survive zero gravity.

In the half-century since Henrietta Lacks' death, her tumor cells--whose combined mass is probably much larger than Lacks was when she was alive--have continually been used for research into cancer, AIDS, the effects of radiation and toxic substances, gene mapping, and countless other scientific pursuits. Dr. Jonas Salk used HeLa to help develop his polio vaccine in the early '50s. The cells are so hardy that they took over other tissue cultures, researchers discovered in the 1970s, leading to reforms in how such cultures are handled. In the biomedical world, HeLa cells are as famous as lab rats and petri dishes.

Yet Henrietta Lacks herself remains shrouded in obscurity. Gey, of course, knew HeLa's origins, but he believed confidentiality was paramount--so for years, Henrietta's family didn't know her cells still lived, much less how important they had become. After Gey died in 1970, the secret came out. But it was not until 1975, when a scientifically savvy fellow dinner-party guest asked family members if they were related to the mother of the HeLa cell, that Lacks' descendants came to understand her critical role in medical research.

The concept was mind-blowing--in a sense, it seemed to Lacks' family, she was being kept alive in the service of science. "It just kills me," says Henrietta's daughter, Deborah Lacks-Pullum, now 52 and still living in Baltimore, "to know my mother's cells are all over the world."

In the 27 years since the Lacks family serendipitously learned of Henrietta's unwitting contribution, little has been done to honor her. "Henrietta Lacks Day" is celebrated in Turner Station each year on Feb. 1. In 1996, prompted by Atlanta's Morehouse College, that city's mayor proclaimed Oct. 11 Henrietta Lacks Day. The following year, Congress passed a resolution in her memory sponsored by Rep. Robert Ehrlich (R-Md.), whose 2nd District includes Turner Station, and the British Broadcasting Corp. produced a documentary on her remarkable story. Beyond that, however, virtually nothing has been done to celebrate Lacks' contribution--not even by Hopkins, which gained immeasurable prestige from Gey's work with her cells.

Lacks-Pullum is bitter about this. "We never knew they took her cells, and people done got filthy rich [from HeLa-based research], but we don't get a dime," she says. The family can't afford a reputable lawyer to press its case for some financial stake in the work. She says she has appealed to Hopkins for help, and "all they do is pat me on my shoulder and put me out the door."

Hopkins spokesperson Gary Stephenson is quick to point out that Hopkins never sold HeLa, so it didn't make money from Henrietta's contribution. Still, he says, "there are people here who would like something done, and I'm hoping that at some point something will be done in a formal way to note her very, very important contribution."

Lacks-Pullum shares those hopes, but she is pessimistic. "Hopkins," she says, "they don't care."

Lost in the acrimony over ethical and financial issues stemming from Henrietta Lacks' cells, though, is Henrietta Lacks herself. A descendant of slaves and slaveholders, she grew up farming the same land on which her forebears toiled--and that her relatives still farm today. As part of an aspiring black middle class with rural roots, she left her childhood home to join a migration to Baltimore, where Bethlehem Steel was eager to hire hard workers from the country. She was in the midst of realizing an American dream when her life was cut short. And her cells helped realize society's larger dreams for health and knowledge. As such, she's been called a hero, a martyr, even a saint. But during her life, as Ehrlich said to his colleagues in Congress, Henrietta Lacks "was known as pleasant and smiling, and always willing the lend a helping hand." That she did, in more ways than she ever knew.

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Tags: henrietta lacks, cancer, polio

Laticia Johnson

1 comments.

Member since 10/11/2006

i would like to contact the family and see if it is ok to start a fundraiser to put a proper headstone at Henrietta Lacks grave site

Posted 10.11.2006 5:27 PM

Barbie

1 comments.

Member since 2/24/2007

I am related to the "Lack" of Clover through my Mother. I used to go to "Lacks Town" every weekend. I was shocked when I found out one of my relatives is famous! My sisters (Gail and Carla) would like to become involved in getting this story out. I used to play in that house when I was little. What can we do to help?

Posted 2.24.2007 7:49 PM

RebeccaR

3 comments.

Member since 10/13/2007

I would also like to get involved in providing a headstone for Henrietta. Please respond.

Posted 10.13.2007 11:34 PM

jloquez

2 comments.

Member since 10/30/2007

For a project to get my diploma from high school and from the bottom of my heart, I'm sorry for the circumstances that the Lacks family have had to go through. I want to raise money so that Henrietta Lacks may be properly remembered. Please let me get in contact with the family because I really want to help and have very good ideas. Thank You and God Bless! Please reply A.S.A.P!

Posted 10.30.2007 7:49 PM

rashidaz

2 comments.

Member since 10/31/2007

My son sent this story to me via email, he is working on his doctorate degree and I have been reading about this story for hours. I'm sure he came across this fascinating story due to his study of biology. Mrs.Lacks's story will go down in history! More attention should be given to her afterlife story. I feel that her family should be financially compensated and she should have a tombstone befitting a king, president, pope,or other dignitary. I wonder has this story yet appearred on the Oprah Winfrey show? May God bless her and her family!

Posted 10.31.2007 7:31 AM

Tjinky

1 comments.

Member since 6/11/2008

While doing some genealogy research on my family, I came across this story and knew that Ms. Henrietta Lacks had to be in my family. My grandmother, who is from Clover, Halifax Virginia born and raised said that Henrietta was her cousin. Her mother was Bettie Lacks and I spent many summers in Clover Virginia. This story is fascinating!

Posted 6.11.2008 1:52 PM

wychegirl

2 comments.

Member since 9/24/2008

i am looking for a lady who at one time lived in jacksonville, fl who once dated a man named willie cherry and had to girls born in 1961 and another born 1962. her name is listed as Barbara Jones but her children was born with the Wyche name. please e-mail with any iimformation

Posted 9.24.2008 11:37 AM

wychegirl

2 comments.

Member since 9/24/2008

Posted 9.24.2008 12:25 PM

jfostertx1

1 comments.

Member since 10/22/2008

I am a cousin of the Late Henrietta Lacks aka HeLa Cells, my mother Elizabeth Pleasant Foster is the daughter of Mary Munchie Garrett-Pleasant-Robinson of Colver, VA., who is daughter of Mariah Lacks-Garrett-Palmer and the Aunt of Henerietta Lacks. I can be contacted at jfostertx@gmail.com

No need for a headstone as the her family does not want actual location of her body to be known since it was indicated that John Hopkins Hopital in Batlimore wanted her entire remains.

Thank you all for your outpouring of positive comments and wanting to support Heneritta's family members.

Posted 10.22.2008 11:55 AM

wonderwomanfan

Guest

i will miss her!

Posted 10.30.2009 7:22 PM

dp

Guest

For those interested, the book about Henrietta mentioned in this article is coming out in February. It's called The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and it's online here: http://rebeccaskloot.com/?page_id=8

Posted 12.6.2009 1:42 PM

Angie

Guest

when they use the word Immortal it has to sink in, this woman actually is immortal, she died, yet she did not only the sentient part of her died, scientists still dont know why her cells do this or at least they wont tell us they know. surely they have thought, when they look at her living cells they know they are staring at immortal life

Posted 1.9.2010 10:06 PM

boo

Guest

Wow, this woman helped millions and all her relations care about is getting paid. Rejoice instead, and seek to make a difference yourself.

Posted 1.15.2010 7:39 PM

Moi

Guest

What a tragic, troubling, complex, yet exhilarating story. My heart goes out to the Lacks family for all they've been through and all they WILL go through once Ms Skloot's book is released.

I wonder, though, if the family is aware of US copyright law regarding the images of Ms Lacks? They obviously fall well within the copyright protection time frame, yet are popping up like mushrooms all over the Internet. Perhaps the family has made the decision to place them into the public domain, but if not, they should be made aware. The images can be a source of some income related to this tale of woe as they license and collect fees for the images' use. As the article's author, perhaps you can make sure they know about copyright law and can find a photographic agent to help in this matter.

A blogger told me today that they had just taken a photo from another site because it's been out there for years and must be in the public domain. They didn't even take a moment to try to track down the copyright status of the image, as is their obligation! I'd hate to see the Lackses get walked on yet again.

If this is the 2nd post, I apologize; I typed it once and hit one of the function keys - poof!

Posted 1.31.2010 11:40 PM

frank burns

Guest

That cells from your mother are helping medical science should be a reward in itself. Still, if every researcher who uses the cells sent the family US$10 (ten dollars)m everything would be OK all around. These research groups pay corporations thousands of dollars every month for patents and such, just because those corporations have powerful lawyers. The family does have a moral claim, and it should be respected. I would say to all the researchers to ante up.

Posted 2.1.2010 7:29 PM

Samuel

Guest

I have for some years been trying to locate the descendents of original people of color who arrived to these shores in the years 1619. There were twenty two of them all from Egypt of the tribe of Joseph. They were not, as have been erroneously reported, slaves, nor were they in chains. They did however land in Virginia. It is my belief that, Henrietta my be a descendent of those people and I would appreciate it, if I were put in contact with her daughter and or, state lecturer Ms. Barbara Wyche. Thank you. Samuel

Posted 2.1.2010 9:30 PM

Conquer

Guest

I enjoy the story had no clue and why isn't this know to the whole world. I too agree some type of payment should be given to the family after all her cells are still saving lifes.

Come on there's a lawyer out there who can handle this take the CHALLENGES make us proud.

Posted 2.2.2010 12:57 AM

Dr. Jabrowski

Guest

Her cells had nothing to do with the Polio vaccine. Dr. Salk injected monkey kidney cells, and the discovery that polio could be grown in a culture happened two years prior to her cells being harvested. Enders, Weller and Robbins won the Nobel Prize for their discovery. You're pretty much just lying about it, retract that statement.

Posted 2.2.2010 7:22 AM

van de camps

12 comments.

Member since 3/27/2007

The sentence in the article that offends Dr. Jabrowski is: “Dr. Jonas Salk used HeLa to help develop his polio vaccine in the early '50s.” A simple sentence that distills the complex history of HeLa and the polio vaccine, its meaning nonetheless captures HeLa’s significance to Salk’s work. Salk discovered the polio vaccine prior to HeLa becoming available from Gey’s lab, but as Salk continued to produce the vaccine, he and many other researchers ended up using HeLa. In a conference in 1978 in Lake Placid, NY, Salk said from the podium that, in retrospect, he believed that HeLa-cell contamination at his lab meant that the cells he used in vaccine production may not have been his “harmless monkey heart cells at all but HeLa cells,” according to a 2002 Royal Society paper by Walter Nelson-Rees. As Rebecca Skloot, the author of a just released book about HeLa, wrote in response to being challenged by a reader of her 2000 article about HeLa in Johns Hopkins Magazine: “What is relevant to the story of Henrietta Lacks and her family is that HeLa cells were, indeed, part of the widespread efforts to end polio.”

Posted 2.2.2010 10:10 AM

corlisnich

1 comments.

Member since 2/2/2010

My name is Corlis Lacks Nichols, and I was born and raised in Clover, Virginia. I read with great interest and sorrow the story of Henrietta Lacks in O Magazine. I then found your article concerning this lady. I am in awe of this great lady who has contributed so much to so many. I have just been diagnosed with breast cancer, and it is through her that research has come so far and I now have a chance to live and conquer this disease. I would very much like to support a fund to preserve the family home, cemetery and her gravesite. I noted in one email that the doctors wanted her body to do research and the family does not want her grave found. This is sad, and no one should be allowed to remove her body for more research unless this is what her family wants. She has already given so much. Let her rest in peace. .

Posted 2.2.2010 11:47 AM

BN 'FREE'

Guest

Please lets recommend this historical contribution to science and humanity as a deserving award of the noble prize. Heneritta's face should be placed on postage stamps so that everyone will know that she was a great american.Wow! now this is one amazing story.

Posted 2.3.2010 12:12 AM

Samuel

Guest

I am Samuel, and I am e-mailing a duplicate of this letter to all those I think this communiqué will be of some interested.

I believe that Mrs. Lacks was descendent of the tribe of Joseph son of Jacob who was, Israel. In the year 1619, twenty two members of that tribe, arrived on coast of Virginia from Egypt. They were not, as have been chronicled in the history books, slaves, rather they arrived here of their own free will. Through much study and meditation I have determined that, Sally Hemming the concubine of Thomas Jefferson was also of these people.

If Mrs. Lacks is descendent of the tribe, then my discovering her ergo the inheritance will or should facilitate, according to prophecy, the gathering of Gods children. This coming together need be completed by the year 2015, making way for the dreadful day of the Lord.

Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

Israel which came into existence in the year 1948 will, in the in the year 2018 be seventy years.

As you my well imagine there is much more to learn and to talk about and I hope to hear from all of you soon.

I am Samuel

Posted 2.3.2010 6:14 PM