If you are working or studying within the bioscience field, you have probably at some time worked with the HeLa-cell line. Then you probably know that the name “HeLa” is an acronym for “Henrietta Lacks” as the cells origin from a woman with this name.

But I am guessing that for most, that’s where the knowledge stops.

But who was Henrietta Lacks? And why have the HeLa-cells gained such popularity and use in science?

Henrietta Lacks was an afroamerican woman born in Virginia in 1920. When she was four years old, her mother died and she moved in with her granddad on his tobacco farm. Here, she shared a room with her cousin, David, with whom she got pregnant. Later, they married.

After Henrietta had given birth to her fifth child, in 1951, she started to experience intense abdominal pains and bleedings. She was sent to the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore – one of the few places in the area, where black citizens were allowed to get medical help. She suffered a very aggressive cervical cancer and treatment (with x-ray and radioactivity) was initiated, but still, she died shortly after (october 1951).

The story could have ended there and she could have been forgotten. But the hospital also housed a large research facility. One department, led by George Gey, was dedicated to finding an “immortal” cell line, thus cells that could be grown in the lab “forever”.

At this time, cells could be grown in the laboratory, but only for a certain amount of time, after which they died. But when Gey heard about Henriettas aggressive cancer cells, Gey and his assistant Mary Kubicek sneaked into the autopsy department and – without permission – took samples from Henrietta.

Gey and Kubicek then cultivated the cells in their laboratory – and WHOA – they grew and grew! The worlds first, immortal cell line was “born”.

After this, Gey shared the cells with all researchers around the world, who wanted to use them. They were also commercialized and sold (but no money was ever payed to the Lacks-family). The HeLa-cells have since had a very large impact for many different kinds of research. One field, where the cells were used was in polio research – and especially the quest for making the first, effective vaccines. Here the HeLa-cells could be used to test for presence of functional antibodies in the blood of vaccinated.

The story of Henrietta Lacks – and how the cells helped in one of the worlds most amazing “vaccine races” (the development of the polio vaccines) can be read in the book “Matilda-effekten”. The book follows four, partially overseen female scientists and describes their contributions to the polio research.

The book “Matilda-effekten” is made 100 % as a graphic novel – handdrawn and written by myself, published by FADL’s Forlag.

I can also recommend the book “The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot, from where I have aquired much of the information about Henrietta.