Henrietta Lacks's cells revolutionized modern medicine, but their unauthorized collection remains a source of pain for her descendants.
Key facts
- •Henrietta Lacks died in 1951 at age 31 from an aggressive form of cervical cancer.
- •HeLa cells were the first immortal human cell line and have contributed to numerous medical advancements.
- •Rebecca Skloot’s 2010 book, 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,' spent over a decade in development.
- •Lacks's daughter, Elsie, died at age 15 in a facility described as a 'hospital for the negro insane.'
- •Veronica Robinson, Lacks's great-granddaughter, advocates for the importance of dignity and consent in medical research.
Henrietta Lacks, a Black tobacco farmer from Virginia, died of cervical cancer in 1951 at age 31. Without her knowledge or consent, doctors took cells from her tumor that became the first "immortal" human cell line, known as HeLa. These cells have since been central to major medical breakthroughs, including cancer treatments, IVF, and COVID-19 vaccines.
The Human Cost of Medical Research
For over two decades, Lacks’s family was unaware that her cells were being used in laboratories worldwide. While scientific institutions benefited from discoveries derived from HeLa cells, the family often lacked access to healthcare. The medical establishment also published Lacks’s medical records and genome sequence without family consent, further violating their privacy.
The Impact of Rebecca Skloot’s Book
The 2010 book 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' by Rebecca Skloot brought Lacks’s story to a global audience. Skloot spent over a decade researching the book, which details the lives of Lacks and her five children. While the book is credited with ensuring Lacks’s name is no longer hidden behind scientific terminology, it also contains graphic details about the family's personal struggles, including abuse and neglect, which caused significant distress to some relatives.
Reflections from the Lacks Family
Veronica Robinson, a great-granddaughter of Lacks and a patients’ rights advocate, acknowledges the complex emotions surrounding the public narrative of her family’s trauma. However, she notes that the family agrees the book successfully brought Lacks’s story to millions. Robinson believes that had Lacks been asked, she likely would have consented to the use of her cells, given her caring and compassionate nature.
Timeline
- 1951Henrietta Lacks dies of cervical cancer and her cells are taken without consent.
- 2010Rebecca Skloot publishes 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks'.
- 2017A film based on the book, starring Oprah Winfrey, is released.
- 2023Lawrence Lacks, Henrietta's oldest son, dies.
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This article was independently rewritten by ManyPress editorial AI from reporting originally published by New Scientist.
