Why Is Henrietta Lacks Important

Henrietta Lacks Honor Essay

“The reason Henrietta's cells were so precious was because they allowed scientists to perform experiments that would have been impossible with a living human. They cut HeLa cells apart and exposed them to endless toxins, radiation, and infection. They bombarded them with drugs, hoping to find one that would kill malignant cells without destroying normal ones.” (58)”Throughout the book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” there are many examples of how the HeLa cell of Henrietta Lacks provided cellular information and examples that helped mold many cellular discoveries and experiments.

In the beginning of the immortal life of the HeLa cells their main scientific benefits revolved around being shipped.At first, in 1951 the HeLa cells were discovered and cultured. This was an all around ground breaking discovery that the world had never seen before. After the cells were cultured in 1951 the year of 1952 consisted mostly of the shipment of the immortal cells. The shipments started out as simple post shipments through the mail. But eventually, through trial and error they discovered more efficient and cost effective ways to transport these cells. After the epidemic of shipping HeLa cells everywhere there was a factory created specifically for growing the

Without these cells we would not have been able to successfully or humanly learn many of the things that we know now. These cells helped teach us about diseases, how to cure/treat them, and humans as a whole. These cells provided the human genetic material we needed in order to make discoveries without harming or testing on people. Although the way these cells were cultured in the beginning was very inhumane they stopped many more dangerous or inhumane acts from being committed in the name of research. HeLa cells were the base of many discoveries that shaped our modern science and