The Woman Who Has Saved Millions of Lives and Never Knew It
Despite dying at a tragically young age, Henrietta Lacks has impacted the world perhaps as any one person in history
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Some of the world’s greatest heroes have been fully aware as their contributions impacted humanity. Others died before ever knowing the extent to which their existence shaped history. One such person was Henrietta Lacks, who died a young woman more than half a century ago but continues to play a large role in everyday life to this day, saving untold numbers of people
Born and raised in Virginia, Lacks came from humble origins. Her family worked farming tobacco and being Black suffered under the rule of Jim Crow. Known for her enjoyment of dressing fashionably, she also enjoyed dancing and cooking in what can only be described as a joie de vivre. She gave birth to five children, but unfortunately in 1951, when she was about to turn 31, she became ill and began to experience abnormal bleeding. Ultimately, a visit to Johns Hopkins Hospital revealed she had cervical cancer. Sadly, despite a series of treatments, the cancer spread to other parts of her body and she passed away on October 4, 1951.
During Lacks’ treatment, a sample of her cancerous cells were collected by Dr. George Gey and taken to his lab for testing. At the time, privacy and permission laws were not in place, so he was technically legally able to do this despite her being unaware.
It was during the testing of her cells that Gey discovered something remarkable. Cells of other patients he tested typically died quickly. However, Lacks’ actually doubled every 20–24 hours. Their amazing vitality led to them being used over and over again to study the effect of drugs, hormones, poisons vaccines and other treatments on cells without having to use human experimentation. Researchers discovered invaluable information over the years using her cells, including them being a key player in the development of the polio vaccine. They have even been more recently used in the search for effective vaccines for Covid-19
Not wanting to publicly identify the unknowing donor, the cells were subsequently named using the first two letters of her first and last names (the cells became known as…
