50 million tons of immortal human cells taken from one woman

Go to any cell culture laboratory in the world and you will find billions of Henrietta's cells stored there by scientists.

In the past and present, immortality is still just a dream of humans. However, you may not know that there was once a woman who possessed immortal cells . These cells opened many doors for modern medicine. Even more surprising, because of her immortality, after her cells were stored, they divided millions of times. So far, the total number of immortal cells possessed by humans has reached 50 million tons.

Henrietta Lacks, the owner of immortal cells.

Go to any cell culture lab in the world and you will find billions of Henrietta Lacks cells stored there by scientists. Henrietta Lacks was an African-American tobacco farmer.

Henrietta Lacks was born on August 1, 1920, in Roanoke, Virginia, USA. At the age of 31, the mother of five went to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore with cervical pain and abnormal bleeding. During an examination, doctors discovered a tumor on her cervix. Just eight months after her diagnosis, on October 4, 1951, Lacks died and was buried in an unmarked grave, according to Newsweek.

During Lacks's hospital stay, doctors took samples of her cancer cells and sent them to the lab for analysis. These cells were unusual. While most human cells can survive only a few days in a lab, Lacks' cells continued to grow and divide continuously, seemingly immortal. This type of "immortality" is common in cancer cells, but Lacks' cells could reproduce especially quickly. So they were used to create the first immortal human cell line, called HeLa cells , named after Lacks.

These cells were then rapidly multiplied and distributed to laboratories around the world. They have since been used in nearly 75,000 studies, leading to major breakthroughs in areas such as vaccines, cancer treatment and fertility.

While our normal cells die after a certain number of cycles, Henrietta's cells can live indefinitely if given the nutrients they need to survive. They can even be frozen for decades and then revived by reheating.

Over the past 60 years, it is estimated that up to 50 million tons of cells may have been produced from Henrietta's first cells collected. They have contributed greatly to research on curing polio; mapping genes; learning how cells work; developing drugs to treat cancer, herpes, leukemia , influenza, hemophilia, Parkinson's disease , AIDS ...

Henrietta Lacks' cells were distributed to laboratories around the world.

Before Henrietta’s cells were discovered, it was nearly impossible for scientists to store and multiply human cells in large numbers outside the body. Most of them died very quickly. Henrietta’s cells opened a new standard for scientists to perform previously unachievable research.

Lacks' cells were used to advance understanding of the cervical cancer that took her life. In 1985, German scientists led by Nobel laureate Harald zur Hausen discovered that HeLa cells contained multiple copies of human papillomavirus 18 (HPV-18), a dangerous strain of the virus that causes cervical cancer. The discovery paved the way for the development of the HPV vaccine decades later. Today, the HPV vaccine is widely available, reducing the rate of cervical cancer in young women by two-thirds. HeLa cells are also used to develop treatments that slow the growth of cancer.

Henrietta Lacks died of cervical cancer in 1951.

HeLa cells have also indirectly enhanced our understanding of the universe. Since 1964, HeLa cells have been sent into space to study the effects of radiation and space travel on human cells.

Although Henrietta’s cells made a huge contribution to human medical achievements, her family did not know this. For six decades, her husband and five children lived in poverty without receiving any money for the contribution of Henrietta’s cells. It was not until 2013 that the US National Institutes of Health began to recognize her contributions and take steps to support the rest of Henrietta’s family.