Henrietta Lacks, an ordinary woman with an extraordinary story, played a pivotal role in numerous medical and biological breakthroughs, profoundly influencing our understanding of conditions like cancer, haemophilia, and Parkinson’s disease. Her remarkable journey involved traveling the globe, experiencing space travel, and even encountering nuclear bombs, all of this despite having passed away over half a century ago. Henrietta’s enduring legacy is HeLa cells, a unique line of human cells derived from a tumour that continues to divide and thrive for decades. In this comprehensive article, we delve deep into the life of Henrietta Lacks, the astonishing story of HeLa cells, and their profound impact on science and medicine.
Henrietta Lacks, originally named Loretta Pleasant, was born on August 1, 1920, in Roanoke, Virginia. Her parents, Johnny Pleasant and Eliza Lacks, were tobacco sharecroppers, and Henrietta grew up in the challenging environment of a former plantation slave cabin known as the “home-house” in Clover, Virginia. Life for the Lacks family was arduous, with everyone working tirelessly in the tobacco fields from sunrise to sunset. Henrietta managed to complete only the sixth grade before joining her family in full-time tobacco farming.
Despite the hardships, Henrietta was known for her vibrant spirit. She loved dressing up, dancing, and cooking for friends and family, often keeping her door open for visitors. In 1934, at the age of 14, Henrietta became pregnant by her cousin, Daniel, also known as “Day” Lacks, who shared a bedroom with her. This union resulted in the birth of her first child, Lawrence. Four years later, Henrietta welcomed a daughter, Elsie, into the world.
Elsie’s life would be marked by tragedy as she suffered from developmental delays and epilepsy due to syphilis inherited from her father, Day. Elsie’s condition led to her being diagnosed with “idiocy” and subsequently committed to the Crownsville Hospital for the Negro Insane, where she sadly passed away in 1963 at the age of 15. Despite these challenges, Henrietta and Day decided to get married on April 10, 1941, shortly before the United States entered World War II.
Life Changes and Challenges During World War II
World War II brought both opportunities and challenges for the Lacks family. The U.S. government distributed millions of cigarettes to boost the morale of soldiers overseas, which could have been beneficial for the Lacks family’s tobacco farming business. However, this policy primarily benefited large industrial farms, leaving small family operations like theirs struggling. At the suggestion of a cousin, Henrietta and Day decided to move to Turner Station, Maryland, so that Day could work at the Bethlehem Steel plant in Sparrows Point.
While Day’s work at the steel plant provided steady income, it also exposed him and many others to dangerous toxins like asbestos, contributing to high rates of lung cancer in the post-war years. During their time in Maryland, Henrietta gave birth to three more children: David, known as “Sonny,” in 1947, Deborah in 1949, and Joseph in 1950.
However, in early 1950, Henrietta began experiencing alarming health issues. She complained of a mysterious “knot” in her womb and suffered from frequent and heavy vaginal bleeding. Fearing that doctors might perform a hysterectomy, preventing her from having more children, Henrietta hesitated to seek medical help for over a year. Her doctor initially suspected syphilis, but when tests came back negative, he referred her to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, the only major medical center in the area that accepted black patients.
The Mysterious Tumour and Medical Discovery
On September 19, 1950, Henrietta arrived at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where she was examined by gynaecologist Howard Jones. What he discovered was unlike anything he had encountered before. Henrietta had a unique tumour attached to her cervix, approximately two centimeters in diameter. The tumour had a peculiar appearance—it was shiny and dark purple, and it bled easily at the slightest touch. Following standard procedure, Jones and research assistant Mary Kubicek collected biopsy samples of the tumour and sent them to the lab for analysis. Henrietta was scheduled for a follow-up appointment six months later.
Unbeknownst to Henrietta, her biopsy samples took an unexpected journey to the basement laboratory of biologist George Gey. For the past ten years, George and his wife and assistant, Margaret, had tirelessly pursued a remarkable goal in medical research: finding a human cell culture that could be consistently grown in the laboratory. Such a culture would transform medicine, eliminating the need for expensive, ethically complicated experiments involving animals or live human subjects. It would provide a single cell line for experiments that could be replicated anywhere. George Gey’s dedication to this quest earned him a reputation as a relentless seeker of human tissue samples, leading one colleague to describe him as “the world’s foremost vulture, feeding on human specimens almost constantly.”
However, despite his best efforts, George Gey’s goal remained elusive. Most human cell cultures he attempted to cultivate died almost immediately, while others struggled for a few days or weeks before inevitably ceasing to divide and ultimately perishing. Therefore, when Henrietta Lacks’ tumour biopsy samples arrived at his laboratory, George held little hope for them. Like dozens of other candidate cells that arrived daily, the samples were divided, placed in vials filled with nutrient-rich growth medium, and transferred to an incubator. George fully expected them to meet the same fate as previous samples.
A Scientific Miracle
Six months later, on February 5, 1951, Henrietta Lacks returned to Johns Hopkins Hospital for her follow-up appointment. There, she received the diagnosis she had feared—Stage 1 Epidermoid Carcinoma of the Cervix. Dr. Lawrence Wharton Jr., a surgeon, began her treatment using a technique called brachytherapy. This involved sewing small capsules of Radium into Henrietta’s cervix, allowing concentrated radiation to target the tumour directly. Henrietta’s cancer appeared to respond well to the treatment. When she returned for a follow-up appointment several months later, the mysterious “grape jelly” tumour had all but vanished.
Meanwhile, in George Gey’s laboratory, something extraordinary was unfolding. Contrary to all expectations, Henrietta’s cells were not merely surviving; they were thriving at an unprecedented rate. While other human cell cultures struggled to survive beyond a few divisions, Henrietta’s cells were doubling every 24 hours, displaying no signs of slowing down. Moreover, unlike other cells restricted to growing only on the surface of culture medium, Henrietta’s cells exhibited limitless growth, filling the culture vials from top to bottom. Margaret Gey aptly described their growth as “spreading like crabgrass.”
This development marked a historic breakthrough. After a decade of relentless effort, George and Margaret Gey had finally achieved the unimaginable—a robust and immortal human cell culture that could be cultivated in vitro. They named this extraordinary discovery “HeLa,” derived from the first two letters of Henrietta’s first and last names.
The Tragic Path of Henrietta Lacks
While HeLa cells thrived in the laboratory, Henrietta’s health took a tragic turn. Despite the apparent success of her Radium treatment, she began experiencing intense pain throughout her body. On August 8, she returned to Johns Hopkins Hospital, where she received devastating news. Her original cervical cancer had metastasized, spreading hundreds of tumours throughout her body. These tumours were so widespread that the pathologist conducting her autopsy would later describe her body as filled with “white pearls.”
Doctors initiated intensive X-ray treatments, but it was too late to reverse the progression of the disease. Henrietta Lacks, half-conscious and delirious, passed away at Johns Hopkins Hospital on October 4, 1951, at 12:15 AM. She was laid to rest in an unmarked grave near her childhood home, the “Home-House” in Clover.
The Immortal Legacy of HeLa Cells
Henrietta Lacks, an ordinary woman who overcame adversity, left an enduring mark on the world of science through her unwitting contribution—the remarkable HeLa cells. These immortal cells have paved the way for countless medical breakthroughs, transforming the landscape of scientific research and medicine. Henrietta’s story serves as a poignant reminder that the impact of a single individual, even in the face of adversity, can be truly extraordinary.
In the following sections, we will explore the immense contributions of HeLa cells to various fields of science and medicine, shedding light on their profound influence on humanity’s quest for knowledge and cures.
