Has Anyone Heard of This Woman?
 

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/scienc...tal-Cells.html


The link is to an article about a woman from the 1950's named Henrietta Lacks.

I've never heard of her, until today.


Read the link and feel free to leave a comment.

To be honest, I'm amazed and a little saddened to. It would have been nice if this woman was told of her impact on humanity.

Re: Has Anyone Heard of This Woman?
 

I had heard of her before this. :)

*editing to make this fair* I was a material science engineering major with a biomedical engineering minor, intending to pursue a graduate degree in biomedical/cell research... I learned about her in a class.

Re: Has Anyone Heard of This Woman?
 

Wow, that is an incredible story! I had never heard of this lady. Thank you for bringing this to light.

Re: Has Anyone Heard of This Woman?
 

interesting, had no idea.my biology teacher was a geek but i did well a and b just dont remember this!

Re: Has Anyone Heard of This Woman?
 

Wow, my mind just boggles about things we never know till someone
shares it..and how much more there is out there that we just dont
know now., but might., in mere seconds., its good to be sane, ain't it? :D

Re: Has Anyone Heard of This Woman?
 

HeLa cells are mentioned all the time in biological research. One thing to keep in mind, though this article keeps saying these were Henrietta's cells, these are the cancer cells that killed Henrietta Lacks.

They are not "normal" or healthy human tissue. They are cancerous and killed the original host (Mrs. Lacks).

The thing that I've wondered about this: Since cervical cancer is so often caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV or "pap virus") was Henrietta's cancer caused by this? Also, what were the characteristics the the virus' own DNA (if it was HPV)?

What can we possibly learn about cell mortality and/or longevity from the study of the HPV virus (or whatever virus may have caused her cancer)? This assumes that this case of cervical cancer was caused by a virus. HPV exists within the DNA of different bacteria as well. Also, there are other causes of cervical cancer.

But whatever "bug" caused the death of Henrietta Lacks is an interesting "bug" indeed.