What Is So Amazing – and Controversial – About HeLa Cells?

Many people have made exceptional contributions to the fields of medicine and science over the years – but few have made a contribution as significant as Henrietta Lacks without even knowing it.

Lacks was just 31 when she passed away from an aggressive form of cervical cancer, but her contribution to the world did not end with her death. Without her knowledge or consent, she provided the first line of “immortal” human cells that could proliferate indefinitely in a laboratory setting. The cells were cultured following a cervical biopsy at Johns Hopkins University in 1951 and are widely used in biomedical research today.

HeLa cells, as the cell line came to be known, have played an essential role in thousands of biomedical studies. More than 60,000 research papers have been written about experiments that used HeLa cells. They have appeared in more than 17,000 patents and have led to countless medical breakthroughs relating to illnesses such as meningitis, HIV, COVID-19, cancer, Parkinson’s disease, and many others.

Undoubtedly, HeLa cells have saved an untold number of lives over the years. However, although their contribution to the field of medicine continues to endure and expand, the way they were taken has left a controversial legacy. Henrietta Lacks never consented to the biopsy, nor did her family members consent to her cells' propagation or use in research. Nor did the Lacks family benefit in any way from the widespread use of HeLa cells. The fact that Lacks, an African-American mother-of-four from a poor background, was receiving free medical care at Johns Hopkins because of her socioeconomic status, makes the lack of consent even more troubling.

In recent decades, the story of Henrietta Lacks has become a key focus of biomedical ethics surrounding informed consent. Scientists and doctors are no longer able to extract cells and tissues of any kind without first obtaining the consent of their patients.

Immortal cells and an immortal legacy: