Henrietta Lacks was thirty years old when her husband drove her to the hospital because of complaints about a constant knot in her stomach. Being a poor, black, tobacco farmer-- descending from generations of Virginian slaves--she was forced to go to the John Hopkins Hospital because it was the only one in the area with a "colored wing." After numerous tests, Mrs. Lacks was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Doctors announced that she would need months of radiation therapy, and without her permission, took a slice of her tumor for further laboratory testing. Unfortunately though, Mrs. Lacks died later that year--but her story was far from over.
When doctors took tissue samples from her cancerous tumor, they unknowingly cultured the first line of cells that did not die in a laboratory setting, and instead doubled in number every 24 hours. Dr. George Gey, then the head of tissue research at John Hopkins, had been looking to grow laboratory cells that could survive long enough to be used in medical research--and Mrs. Lack's cells were his answer.
Since their discovery in 1951, it is estimated that there is now more than 50 million metric tons of Mrs. Lacks' cells--the amount of about 100 Empire State buildings and enough to wrap around the earth three times. Known as HeLa, this line of cells is now the standard in research and medical laboratories around the world, and has been vital to many medical discoveries. The HeLa cells were used to test the first polio vaccine, to uncover secrets about cancer, to test the causes and effects of a multitude of viruses, and contributed to important knowledge about the effects of the atomic bomb on human life. Along with this, they went up in the early space missions for scientists to see what happens to human cells in zero gravity; and contributed to essential knowledge for gene mapping, in-vitro fertilization, and cloning. Almost every modern scientific advancement has used the HeLa line of cells in some way.
But Mrs. Lacks' story goes deeper than science--it touches on issues of race, equality, and biomedical ethics. Doctors cultured the first HeLa cells without the informed consent of Mrs. Lacks. This story is one in a long line of the maltreatment of African-Americans in medical research. Though the Tuskegee Syphilis Study is the most famous, Harriet Washington--author of The Medical Apartheid--uncovers many more "cases of blatant misuse of medical practices on unknowing and unsuspecting black patients in the name of furthering science and discovering cures". Why, in the past, have African-American patients been held to a lower standard of medical consent? Informed consent is a fundamental part of biomedical ethics, yet Mrs. Lacks' story shows that this has not always been the case.
Furthermore, Mrs. Lacks' family did not know of the importance of the HeLa cells until almost 20 years after their original discovery. They were only contacted when scientists wanted to use them for tests to uncover more information about their family's genetic history. But because her family was poor and uneducated, much of this new research was done without their informed consent. And even once they understood the full significance of the HeLa cells and the extent to which they were being used, they often asked why they had never once seen any money from the multimillion dollar industry that Mrs. Lacks was responsible for--or more importantly--why they couldn't even afford healthcare.
There really is no way to reverse decades of unethical medical practices--but what is important is to not lose sight of the human face behind science. As research progresses, and new discoveries become increasingly more important as an answer in life or death situations, it is easy to forget that real stories are behind everything. Mrs. Lacks' story is relatively unknown. Though many biology classes mention the HeLa line of cells, few discuss Mrs. Lack or her family. Her story must be made public and used as a jumping off point for further discussion about the ethics of race and inequality in medical research--both past and present.
---
Sources:
http://rebeccaskloot.com/the-immortal-life/
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Henrietta-Lacks-Immortal-Cells.html
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123232331
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-01/five-reasons-henrietta-lacks-most-important-woman-medical-history
http://www.newsweek.com/2010/02/15/health-care-injustice.html
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/01/st_henrietta/
No comments:
Post a Comment