A best-selling book by Rebecca Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, chronicles a unique 1951 case in which a woman's cervical cancer cells were harvested and grown, although without her knowledge. The patient, Henrietta Lacks, died of cancer the same year, but her cancer cells are still alive in labs worldwide, where they are used for research; they are known as HeLa cells (named after the patient from whom they were drawn). For example, HeLa cells were used to determine that human papillomavirus causes cervical cancer. This finding resulted in a vaccine to prevent the transmission of human papillomavirus and decrease cervical cancer incidence.
Cancer cells do die when the host organism dies because they lack nutrients. Cancer cells are subject to the same needs as any other cell but look different. Their structure differs, mitosis occurs more frequently, and dedifferentiation is obvious. The heirs of Henrietta Lacks have been in court to determine the legal ownership of HeLa cells and, of course, who benefits financially from HeLa's scientific results.
Discuss the moral, ethical, and emotional aspects involved in the isolation and continuous use of HeLa cells.
