Lacks was the unwitting source of these cells from a tumor biopsied during her treatment for cervical cancer at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1951. These cells were then cultured by George Otto Gey, who created the cell line known as HeLa, which is still used for medical research.[9] As was then the practice, no consent was required to culture the cells obtained from Lacks’s treatment. Neither she nor her family were compensated for the extraction or use of the HeLa cells.
That’s such a tricky one because unlike the other examples, this has benefited humanity. There’s no going back on it and until other cell lines are more common, we can’t really discontinue using the HeLa cells.
At the very least though, that whole family shouldn’t have to work a day in their lives from all the profits the private pharmaceutical have generated from it. If I was a part of that family, I’d demand a full ride scholarship from Johns Hopkins.
Her family fought a massive lawsuit about it, too. They didn’t find out their mother’s cancer was fueling genetic research until years after she passed away.
Henrietta Lacks
Lacks was the unwitting source of these cells from a tumor biopsied during her treatment for cervical cancer at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1951. These cells were then cultured by George Otto Gey, who created the cell line known as HeLa, which is still used for medical research.[9] As was then the practice, no consent was required to culture the cells obtained from Lacks’s treatment. Neither she nor her family were compensated for the extraction or use of the HeLa cells.
That’s such a tricky one because unlike the other examples, this has benefited humanity. There’s no going back on it and until other cell lines are more common, we can’t really discontinue using the HeLa cells.
At the very least though, that whole family shouldn’t have to work a day in their lives from all the profits the private pharmaceutical have generated from it. If I was a part of that family, I’d demand a full ride scholarship from Johns Hopkins.
Her family fought a massive lawsuit about it, too. They didn’t find out their mother’s cancer was fueling genetic research until years after she passed away.