In 1951 a young black woman by the name of Henrietta Lacks died of cancer. Her cancer was unlike any seen before, or since, and has transformed modern medicine – her cells are immortal!

Henrietta’s miraculous cancer cells reproduce outside of the body – in a culture dish cells typically only divide a few times before they die, but hers have been alive for almost 60 years! Scientists found the incredibly fast growth rate of her cancer grew just as fast indefinitely in a test tube. They believed her cells held the key to curing cancer and even making humans immortal – unfortunately these have yet to happen.

Her cells, called the HeLa cell line, have been sent all over the world for testing, and even out of this world (as in outer space). Never before was it possible to do long term tests on human cells without testing on an actual human – the cell line would die after a couple days outside of the body. With the HeLa line this was suddenly possible. It has been used for testing the first Polio vaccine, as well as research into cancer, AIDS, radiation effects, sensitivity to toxic substances, gene mapping, and many other medical causes.

Today over 20 tons of her cells exist in petri dishes scattered across the globe. It’s amazing that after all this time, doctors still have not discovered why the HeLa cells behave unlike any others. In the last 60 years Henrietta Lack’s cells have been instrumental in advancing modern medicine – potentially in the next 60 years they will even help find a cure for cancer.

• 53 minute documentary: The Way of All Flesh
• Henrietta Lacks was a black tobacco farmer in southern Virginia who was diagnosed with cervical cancer at 30. Without her knowledge or permission, a doctor took a sample of her cancer cells (apparently this was normal at the time). Two decades after Henrietta’s death her family started receiving calls for blood samples to learn more about the family’s genetics. This is the first time they heard about her miraculous cells and all the medical testing for which they have been used. They also wondered why it had been done without consent, and how modern medicine could be advanced so much thanks to Henrietta Lacks, but her own children could not afford health insurance.
• One downside to the HeLa line is that it has contaminated numerous other cell lines over the years. Doctors were pumped when they saw other types of cells reproducing indefinitely, but it turned out the sample was just contaminated with HeLa cells. HeLa is so resilient it takes just one cell to make its way into a petri dish for it to multiply and ruin the entire sample.
• There are a few immortal cell lines that exist in animals, most notably the contagious cancers found in dogs and Tasmanian Devils.