Henrietta Lacks
Henrietta Lacks was born on August 1, 1920 in Roanoke, Virginia. At the time, she was known as Loretta Pleasant. After her mother died giving birth to her tenth child, Henrietta's father abandoned the children. He sent them to Clover, Virginia where their ancestors had worked as slaves in the tobacco fields and split them between relatives. Henrietta and her cousin Gladys lived with their grandfather. Where they lived, education was not a major priority for girls, so Henrietta got a sixth or seventh grade education. Growing up, many boys had crushes on Henrietta, included someone known "Crazy Joe" who would not leave Henrietta alone. When Henrietta refused to date "Crazy Joe," he jumped into a frozen pond and wouldn't get out until she agreed to go out with him. All the cousins teased him and said:
"Maybe he thought that ice water might'a cool him off, but he so hot for her, that water nearly started boiling!"
When Henrietta was 14, she had her first child, Lawrence, with one of her cousins David Lacks, also known as Day. They later got married when Henrietta was 18, and eventually had a total of five children. After having their fifth child, Henrietta, Day, and their children moved to Turner Station so the parents could get a job. Henrietta often visited Clover to go dancing with her cousin Sadie. In Clover, she was known for her peep-toed heels and her ever-present vivid red toe nails. When Sadie first saw Henrietta's lifeless body, she realized that:
"Henrietta would rather have died than let her polish get chipped like that." -Sadie Sturdivant
One of her closest cousins, Cootie, was very fond of Henrietta. This is how he described her:
"She just lovey dove, always smiling, always takin care of us when we come to the house. Even after she got sick, she never was a person who say 'I feel bad and I'm going to take it out on you.' She wasn't like that, even when she hurtin. But she
didn't seem to understand what was going on. She didn't want to think she was gonna die." -Hector "Cootie" Henry
"Maybe he thought that ice water might'a cool him off, but he so hot for her, that water nearly started boiling!"
When Henrietta was 14, she had her first child, Lawrence, with one of her cousins David Lacks, also known as Day. They later got married when Henrietta was 18, and eventually had a total of five children. After having their fifth child, Henrietta, Day, and their children moved to Turner Station so the parents could get a job. Henrietta often visited Clover to go dancing with her cousin Sadie. In Clover, she was known for her peep-toed heels and her ever-present vivid red toe nails. When Sadie first saw Henrietta's lifeless body, she realized that:
"Henrietta would rather have died than let her polish get chipped like that." -Sadie Sturdivant
One of her closest cousins, Cootie, was very fond of Henrietta. This is how he described her:
"She just lovey dove, always smiling, always takin care of us when we come to the house. Even after she got sick, she never was a person who say 'I feel bad and I'm going to take it out on you.' She wasn't like that, even when she hurtin. But she
didn't seem to understand what was going on. She didn't want to think she was gonna die." -Hector "Cootie" Henry
Cancer Cells
Cancer happens when normal cells mutate and divide without control. Cancer cells are also known as malignant cells. There are five main categories of cancer are carcinomas, sarcomas, leukemia, myeloma/lymphoma, and central nervous system cancers.
"In culture, cancer cells can go on dividing indefinitely, if they have a continual supply of nutrients, and thus are said to be immortal." -The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
The telomere is the end of a chromosome that is shortened each time a cell divides. Cancer cells are able to be cultured forever because they have a special enzyme called telomerase that rebuild the telomere in the cell.
"In culture, cancer cells can go on dividing indefinitely, if they have a continual supply of nutrients, and thus are said to be immortal." -The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
The telomere is the end of a chromosome that is shortened each time a cell divides. Cancer cells are able to be cultured forever because they have a special enzyme called telomerase that rebuild the telomere in the cell.
The Cancer Game linked to the button above is a hands-on activity that shows how cancer spreads in your body. The cells are originally pigmented white, but as they are infected with cancer, you can save them by pressing space bar. When you save a cell before it is fully overcome by cancer, you are taking the place of enzymes that "double checks" DNA polymerase and RNA primase to ensure that all of the nitrogenous bases match up. Cancer occurs when these bases do not match, or have a mistake. In the virtual game, When a cell turns completely red, it becomes a cancer cell. In response, you then act like a doctor, you must kill the cell because there is no way to fix the mistake.
HeLa Cells
HeLa cells started out as a small sliver of Henrietta Lacks' cancerous tumor in her cervix. Dr. George Gey obtained this sample hoping to find the first immortal cells to grow in culture. Merriam Webster defines HeLa cells as:
"A cell of a continuously cultured strain isolated from a human uterine cervical carcinoma in 1951 and used in biomedical research especially to culture viruses."
HeLa cells are extremely important to science. When discovered in 1951, Henrietta's cells were given away all over the world because of their remarkable medical breakthrough. They helped develop a vaccine for polio, made the first cloned sheep possible, and contribute to the synthesis of current drugs on clinical trials that target the telomerase in cancer cells. The following quote is a description of HeLa cells from Deborah Lacks:
"Science calls her HeLa and she’s all over the world in medical facilities, in all the computers and the Internet everywhere."
"A cell of a continuously cultured strain isolated from a human uterine cervical carcinoma in 1951 and used in biomedical research especially to culture viruses."
HeLa cells are extremely important to science. When discovered in 1951, Henrietta's cells were given away all over the world because of their remarkable medical breakthrough. They helped develop a vaccine for polio, made the first cloned sheep possible, and contribute to the synthesis of current drugs on clinical trials that target the telomerase in cancer cells. The following quote is a description of HeLa cells from Deborah Lacks:
"Science calls her HeLa and she’s all over the world in medical facilities, in all the computers and the Internet everywhere."
Click here for next page