Henrietta Lacks

Henrietta Lacks was born on August 1, 1920 in Roanoke, Virginia to Eliza (1886–1924) and John Randall Pleasant I (1881–1969). Henrietta “Pleasant” Lacks married her first cousin David Lacks I (1915–2002) in Halifax County, Virginia. Henrietta Lacks convinced David to go north to search for work and later followed bringing their children with her. David found work at the Sparrow's Point shipyards and found a house for them on New Pittsburgh Avenue in Turners Station. Henrietta Lacks went to Johns Hopkins Hospital with a worrisome symptom which was spotting on her underwear. She was quickly diagnosed with cervical cancer. Eight months later, despite surgery and radiation treatment, the Sparrows Point shipyard worker's wife died at age 31 as she lay in the hospital's segregated ward for blacks.

            After Henrietta Lacks died in 1951 from having cervical cancer  left behind her tumor cells. The cells, dubbed "HeLa" for Henrietta Lacks, multiplied as no other cells outside the human body had before, doubling their numbers daily. In the 50 years after Henrietta Lacks' death, her tumor cells combined mass is probably much larger than Lacks was when she was alive and have continually been used for research into cancer, AIDS, the effects of radiation and toxic substances, gene mapping, and countless other scientific pursuits. On the day of Henrietta's death, the head of Hopkins' tissue-culture research lab, Dr. George Gey, went before TV cameras, held up a tube of HeLa cells, and announced that a new age of medical research had begun--one that, someday, could produce a cure for cancer

            If I was one of Henrietta Lacks’ relatives it will be a little disturbing knowing that her tumor cells are all around the world. I would be happy that they are using something that she no longer use to help find a cure for cancer. Since the doctors such as Dr. Jonas Salk can see how fast the cells are duplicating maybe they can find a way to slow that process down. If I didn’t know that Henrietta Lacks organs was still alive I would be very fuming because that is part of her so those are also her remains. By Henrietta Lacks organs still being alive that also means that part of her is still alive.