Henrietta Lacks; HeLa Cells and Cancer Cells
Henrietta Lacks was born on August 1, 1920 and bore five children to David Lacks, her husband. Henrietta Lacks was a poor black tobacco farmer who died whose cells were taken from her without her consent that would change the face of science forever. Henrietta died on October 4, 1951 form cervix cancer. Being a black lady in the time when colored people were separated from the white, she never got the exact treatment that she deserved for her cancer, and also did not got to the doctors unless it was absolutely necessary. When she finally got to the doctors, not even radiation was able to help her. She died shortly after treatment and left her children with David, her husband. She was a very hard working women and took up responsibility at a young age. In Rebecca Skloot's book, "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" we see Henrietta described as a person that loved to be around people. "She was a person that could really make the good things come out of you" (43).
HeLa Cells and Cancer Cells
By definition, HeLa cells are defined as "a cell of a continuously cultured strain isolated from a human uterine cervical carcinoma in 1951 and used in biomedical research especially to culture viruses" HeLa cells are the only Immortal cells to date that have survived for so long outside a living organism and in a test tube. A cancer cells is defined as "a cell that divides and reproduces abnormally with uncontrolled growth. This cell can break away and travel to other parts of the body and set up another site, referred to as metastasis." Both cells reproduce abnormally fast and unlike a cancer cell, The HeLa cell has helped create many vaccinations such as the Polio vaccine that saved millions during the polio epidemic. Cancer cells however, reproduce at such a rapid speed the can cause tumors and masses that are very dangerous and many times fatal to humans.
By definition, HeLa cells are defined as "a cell of a continuously cultured strain isolated from a human uterine cervical carcinoma in 1951 and used in biomedical research especially to culture viruses" HeLa cells are the only Immortal cells to date that have survived for so long outside a living organism and in a test tube. A cancer cells is defined as "a cell that divides and reproduces abnormally with uncontrolled growth. This cell can break away and travel to other parts of the body and set up another site, referred to as metastasis." Both cells reproduce abnormally fast and unlike a cancer cell, The HeLa cell has helped create many vaccinations such as the Polio vaccine that saved millions during the polio epidemic. Cancer cells however, reproduce at such a rapid speed the can cause tumors and masses that are very dangerous and many times fatal to humans.