03/16/2026
For , we’d like to honor the memory of Henrietta Lacks, an African American cancer patient who helped save countless lives as the source of the first immortalized human cell line. Her cancer cells provided invaluable medical data, and are still used in research to this day.
The story of Henrietta Lacks is powerful not only because her cells played a role in medical breakthroughs, but because it raised important issues about consent, privacy, and patients’ rights given that her cells were used for research without her knowledge or consent.
During Lacks’s treatment for cervical cancer in 1951, shortly before her death, her cells were taken from a tumor that was biopsied at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. The cell line was named “HeLa” based on the first two letters of Henrietta Lacks’s first and last names.
Lacks’s cells were unusual because they reproduced at a very high rate, and could be kept alive long enough to make in-depth examination possible. Her cells became known as “immortal” because they could be divided multiple times without dying — the first cells to be observed by researchers that had this property.
These special qualities made possible a number of important advances. Over the years, HeLa cells were used to study cancer, AIDS, the effects of radiation and toxic substances, and gene mapping, among other areas of investigation.
Not only was Lacks herself kept in the dark about the use of her cells — so was her family. This is especially problematic because her cells were used for commercial purposes, and in the 1980s, family medical records were published without permission from the family.
Eventually the Lacks family became aware of the situation and pursued lawsuits against a number of biotech and pharmaceutical firms. Two have been settled for undisclosed terms, while other cases are still ongoing.
Henrietta Lacks has been belatedly honored for her contribution to science. Johns Hopkins established a memorial lecture series in her name, and has also named a new research building (currently under construction) after her.
In 2011, Morgan State University in Baltimore granted Lacks a posthumous honorary doctorate in public service. In Vancouver, Washington, the Henrietta Lacks Health and Bioscience High School was named in her honor. In 2020, she was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.
In 2010, author Rebecca Skloot published her book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Skloot used her first royalty check from the book to establish a foundation in Henrietta’s name, benefiting the Lacks family as well as others who have made contributions to medical research without their consent.
In 2017, Skloot’s book was adapted into a TV movie of the same name, starring Oprah Winfrey as Henrietta’s daughter Deborah Lacks.
You can read more about the life and legacy of Henrietta Lacks on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrietta_Lacks
