Henrietta Lacks Thesis

Henrietta Lacks was born as Loretta Pleasants on August 1st, 1920 in Roanoke, Virginia, She lived with her mother for 4 years until her mother died in 1924 for unknown reasons. After the death, she moved to her grandfather log cabin, which was a former slave quarter for their ancestors.There she met her cousin David “Day” Lacks. In 1935, the two cousins had a child, his name was Lawrence. A few years later they had another child by the name of Elise. Unfortunately, this child was developmentally disabled, she couldn't talk and had hearing impairments, her family diagnosed her with “idiocy”. A few years after her birth she was sent to Hospital for the Negro Insane, where many theorized that she may have been abused due to the marks on her

Henrietta later had 3 more children by the names of David jr., Deborah, and Joseph.

On August 1st, 1951 Henrietta Lacks was experiencing a sharp knot in her abdomen so her husband decided to take her to John Hopkins hospital to figure out what was going on, little did they know that this little visit would not only change their lives but change the lives of people all around the world. After the doctors inspected her abdomen they quickly came to the conclusion that she had cervical cancer. Subsequently, the doctors conducted radiation tests and took two cervical cell samples without her knowledge. These cells later made their way across the country and in the laboratory of Dr. George Otto Gey, who realized that there was something unusual about the cells, after conducting more tests he started to wonder why the cells weren't dying. Normal cells usually die in 2-3 days but these cells were more durable Gey multiplied the cells creating a cell line that would later travel across

It represents how Henrietta Lacks had a great impact in not only medicine but in science, in the way that she taught scientist the structure of a cell and how to treat multiple diseases. Before the HeLa cells were found, doctors didn’t know how to treat HIV, Cancer, and Polio, but since the 1950’s 5 million lives have been saved just by the polio vaccine alone. The cell model is important to Henrietta Lacks, because even though she’s dead her cells still live in the lives of countless children, adults, and seniors around the world. This is just an example of how the death of one life can save