HeLa Cells 1951 – The First Immortal Human Cells

Medical researchers use human cells grown in the laboratory to study cellular functions and develop treatments. Such cells can be frozen and shared among researchers. However, most cell lines divide only a limited number of times and then die. 

In 1951, the American biologist George Gey cultured cells taken from a cancerous tumor of the cervix and created the first immortal human cells. These cells were taken without the knowledge of a patient named Henrietta Lacks, who developed cervical cancer in 1951. Gey freely gave the cells to any scientist who wanted them. Research on these cells has resulted in more than 60,000 scientific articles and 11,000 patents. 

HeLa cells, named after Henrietta Lacks, continue to be used by researchers today.

The author Rebecca Skloot:

“If you could put all the HeLa cells ever produced on a scale, they would weigh more than 50 million metric tons—exactly as much as a hundred Empire State Buildings. HeLa cells were vital to the development of the polio vaccine; they revealed secrets of cancer, viruses and the effects of the atomic bomb; they led to major advances such as in vitro fertilization, cloning and gene mapping; and billions of them have been bought and sold.”

HeLa cells continuously repair their chromosome ends, which normally become severely damaged after multiple cell divisions, with the active enzyme telomerase they contain. The genetic makeup of HeLa cells differs considerably from human papillomavirus 18 and several extra copies of human chromosomes. Because the cells can spread even on airborne particles, they have contaminated many other cell cultures.

Lacks died at the age of 31 because her cancer had spread, and her family learned of her “immortality” years later. Since then, the cells have been used in many areas of research, from being sent into space to test the effects of low gravity, to AIDS and the testing of toxic substances.

About the Article Image: HeLa cells dividing under an electron microscope

Historical Figures Mentioned in the Article: George Otto Gey (1899–1970), Henrietta Lacks (1920–1951)

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