Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
If you don’t know the name Henrietta Lacks, you need to know it. Lacks is responsible for a long series of advances in the treatment of cervical cancer, and she had no idea that her cells were being used. Lacks was a mother of five who died of cervical cancer in 1951. A biopsy was taken without her permission, which was used to create a line called HeLa Cells, which have generated billions in revenue for drug companies over the last 60 years
This week, the National Institute of Health announced an agreement with the family that would allow them to finally reap limited benefits of Henrietta’s sacrifice. Under the agreement, the genome sequence of the cells will not be available to everyone, just those who apply for a grant. Also, two members of the family will be part of the NIH group responsible for reviewing applications to review the HeLa cells.
The family is also going to be acknowledged when the cells are used.
But what is most amazing is that the family still won’t get a dime from the billions of dollars that have been earned from the use of Henrietta’s cells. At least this appears to be the case based on news reports of the structure of the agreement. Even receiving a fraction of the money that the cells have earned for big corporations would make the family one of the richest black families in the world. Like Henrietta’s cells, the billions they deserve would last for generations.
The use of the cells without compensation was brought to life in Rebecca Skloot’s book, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.” The book was a New York Times Best-Seller, and yet another reminder of how African Americans have been harmed by the medical establishment.
The cells were taken from Lacks by a team led by George Otto Gey. The group was able to grow the cells in dishes outside the human body. The immortal cell line allowed researchers to fight disease in ways they could not in the past.
You can read more about the case at this link.
