Henrietta Lacks’ Revolutionary Contribution to Medicine: HeLa Cells
By Sara Garner
Scientists have made thousands of advancements to improve the medical field, from the invention of anaesthesia to that of penicillin, all of which deserve critical recognition. At the end of the day, however, there is only one discovery that can be labelled the most influential: the discovery of HeLa cells. Used in almost every research programme since 1951, HeLa cells are the backbone to medical research. They form the groundwork for all new discoveries, and without them, further discoveries such as Hydroxyurea, Camptothecin and the effects of X rays would simply not have been possible.
“[HeLa cells] were taken in a bad way but they are doing good for the world.” (Alfred Lacks Carter, 2020)
The root of HeLa cells’ usefulness lies in their immortality. While other cells die out over time and are therefore inconvenient for research programmes and experiments, HeLa cells can survive indefinitely if given the nutrients necessary to reproduce and a suitable environment. This characteristic can be explained by their overactive telomerase, a type of enzyme that rebuilds the compound structure at the end of chromosomes called telomeres after each division. Overactive telomerase prevents cellular aging and senescence — permanent growth arrest — therefore allowing constant divisions of the cell instead.
This is not the only difference between HeLa cells and normal cells’ genetics. As cancerous cells, HeLa cells have an irregular number of chromosomes (76 to 80 in comparison to the normal cell’s 46). This is due to the Human Papillomavirus, which inserts its own DNA into the host cells and therefore results in the production of a protein that prevents p53 from suppressing tumours and repairing mutations. Without functional p53, errors in the genome accumulate and lead to cancer. Even for cancerous cells, however, HeLa cells grow abnormally fast, doubling in cell count in only 24 hours. This is another reason why these cells have been so revolutionary in medical research: not only are they immortal and therefore able to last the entirety of a research programme, but they grow easily and rapidly, making them ideal for large scale testing (Xavier Faussadier, 2017).
In light of the recent Black Lives Matter movement, the origin of HeLa cells has become a topic of much importance. The name HeLa cells stems from Henrietta Lacks: the woman from which these cells originally came from. Henrietta Lacks was an African-American woman born in Virginia, and the mother of five. She was admitted into John Hopkins Hospital a couple months after her fifth pregnancy due to bleeding and evidence of a lump on her cervix, where she underwent a biopsy that indicated the presence of a cervical tumour. After further testing, Lacks was given the standard care for that day where small glass tubes of radium were secured in fabric pouches called Brack plaques, and then attached to the cervix. It was during this time that two tissue samples were extracted from her, one from the tumour and one from surrounding healthy tissue, and sent to Dr Gey to be used in his research (Laura Etheredge, 2020).
At this time, it was not uncommon for doctors to study patients and their tissues without their knowledge or consent. Looking back at this from a modern perspective however, the ethical issues are clear. The right to autonomy, one of the four pillars of medical ethics, dictates that adult patients with capacity must give their informed consent before medical professionals can utilise samples from their body in any research. This is not something that Henrietta Lacks did: in fact, she was not even aware that these studies were taking place.
Consent continued to be a major issue in scientists’ behaviour when using and discussing Henrietta Lacks’ cells as Lacks’ name was given multiple times without asking the family; her medical records released to the media; and her genome published online. This highlights not just issues with doctors not obeying fundamental ethical guidelines, but racial inequality within healthcare. Henrietta Lacks was a black woman, and that impacted not just the way her cells were handled, but the treatment of her descendants. She ought to have been celebrated for her contribution to medicine, yet for a great many years she went largely unknown. Her family should have received money from the biotechnology companies that profited from the usage of HeLa cells, and yet not one of them did this (Maninder Ahluwalia, 2020).
Despite the many ethical issues surrounding the history of HeLa cells, they are undeniably a fundamental aspect of medicine today. Their ‘immortal’ status has made them integral in the advancement of medicine and research, particularly in fields such as cancer biology, infectious disease, and fundamental microbiology. For example, in 1953, HeLa cells were used to grow large amounts of the poliovirus. This allowed scientists to study how the virus affected the cells, knowledge which would go on to pave the way for the development of the polio vaccine. Without HeLa cells, the vaccine would never have been possible, and hundreds more would have lost their lives to it.
Later, in 1964, HeLa cells were used to study the potential use of a drug called Hydroxyurea as a treatment against certain blood cancers and sickle cell anaemia — a red blood cell disorder where there aren’t enough healthy red blood cells that can carry oxygen around the body. They administered the drug to the cancerous HeLa cells, and noted that the drug slowed the rate of growth. This indicated that it would also help prevent the mis-shaping of red blood cells that is responsible for sickle cell anaemia and its effects. This research has had lasting effects on medical treatment: today, it is an approved and common treatment for sickle cell anaemia and other blood cancers, and has saved many lives.
Although HeLa cells have been used in many other notable research programmes and medical advancements, perhaps the most significant is the discovery that Camptothecin slows cancer cell growth. Despite this arguably being on par with discoveries such as Hydroxyurea’s effects and the effects of X Rays, this one is the most relevant to Henrietta Lacks’ story. The findings went on to support further studies on whether Camptothecin could be used as a drug to treat cancer, and were later fundamental in the approving of Camptothecin by the FDA as a treatment for certain types of ovarian, lung and cervical cancers. “It is fitting tribute”, Lacks’ grandson Alfred Lacks Carter described the use of HeLa cells in cancer research as. Having died from cervical cancer herself, this was likely a topic very important to Lacks, and something she would’ve expressed particular interest in helping manage and mitigate (T T Puck et al, 2014).
It is clear to see that HeLa cells have had a revolutionary impact on medicine. While not as grand or impressive as the invention of body imaging or anaesthesia, they are fundamental to so much research work conducted nowadays that it seems ridiculous that the woman from which they were taken — Henrietta Lacks — receives so little credit. The discovery of HeLa cells was not just the discovery of the first immortal cell line; it was the inadvertent discovery of the polio vaccine, the multiple chemical treatments for cancer, and every other medical advancement that would not have been possible without these cells, and it is for that reason that it is the most influential discovery in medicine.
Bibliography
Ahluwalia, M (2020) ‘Genetic privacy: we must learn from the story of Henrietta Lacks’, New Scientist, 26/03/21, https://www.newscientist.com/article/2250449-genetic-privacy-we-must-learn-from-the-story-of-henrietta-lacks/
Etheredge, L (2020) ‘Henrietta Lacks’, Britannica, 26/03/21, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henrietta-Lacks
Faussadier, X (2017) ‘HeLa cells: Origin of this important cell line in life’, tebu-bio, 26/03/21 https://www.tebu-bio.com/blog/2017/11/28/hela-cells-the-first-cell-line
Puck, T T et al (2014) ‘Significant Research Advances Enabled by HeLa Cells’, National Institutes of Health, 26/03/21 https://osp.od.nih.gov/scientific-sharing/hela-cells-timeline/#:~:text=In%201952%2C%20HeLa%20cells%20became,of%20choice%20for%20biomedical%20research
