Well until I had cancer I had never heard of Henrietta Lacks. She was an African-American woman whose cervical cancer cells transformed medical research. These cells were cultivated without permission or knowledge of Lacks or her family and led to many lives being saved.
My photo of exhibition 2019
The cells were given the name HeLa cell line – so called because of the initial two letters of her first and last names. The cells have been used for cancer but also for polio, Parkinsons, Aids and gene mapping.
Lacks was treated in 1951 at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins hospital, which at the time was one of the only medical facilities accepting Black patients. She died within months, at age 31. But scientists found that her cells had a genetic mutation and were multiplying daily outside her body and lasting longer than other samples. They effectively became the first human cells to be successfully cloned.
In October this year a bronze statue of her will be put up in Roanoke, her Virginia home town - replacing one of the Confederate General Robert E Lee. The plaza where it will be situated has already been named after her.
Ron Lacks, whose father, Lawrence Lacks, is Henrietta’s oldest and only living child is quoted in The Guardian as saying: “This historical moment, occasion, has been a long time coming.” While many in the Black Lives Matter movement have hailed this as an important step.
The image is of Lacks and a glass vial handblown by Jochen Holz entitled 'Remembering Henrietta Lacks'. The vial contains some of her cells with permission from her family. I was fortunate to see this in a 2019 exhibition art the Wellcome Institute - see also here my blog on the Jo Spence exhibition there.
This whole story certainly raises big questions about consent and more. It is common practice today for tissue samples to be used for research, but institutions now have standards for getting consent.
Giving the cell line part of Lacks' name was also done without permission breaching her confidentiality - indeed for decades doctors and scientists have revealed confidential information about her medical records. Worse still the Lacks’ family couldn’t even afford health care, and were not benefitting from the research. Eventually, the Lacks family have been given some control over how the cultures are used. Yet, they still get no financial benefit, even though samples are being sold around the world.
Henrietta Lacks has been dubbed the 'Mother of Modern Medicine' and considered as one of the most powerful symbols of informed consent.
For those interested in learning more there is a 2010 bestselling book and a movie each named 'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' told her story.
