Henrietta Lacks

The fact that Lacks’s cells were taken in a different era of consent will never justify what happened. The past cannot be undone, but we must acknowledge the wrongs of previous generations, and those wrongs that persist today. Justice must be done, and the time to start is now - Nature.com, 2020

Henrietta Lacks
Henrietta Lacks

image by: Emw

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Henrietta Lacks and the Debate Over the Ethics of Bio-Medical Research

The triumph of 21st century free market biotechnology, the medical-industrial complex, and continuing health inequalities by race were all epitomized by the ongoing exploitation of Henrietta Lacks’s cells. By 1993, her only surviving daughter, Deborah Lacks-Pullum, was fighting to understand the continuing existence of her mother as the smallest unit of life. She had to confront the mind-bending cultural incompetency and insensitivity of the bio-medical profession. Researchers “communicated” with Lacks family members in what can only be described as academic gibberish. She wrestled with inadequate and misleading information, such as statement that what was the very essence of her mother, through…

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Resources

 Henrietta Lacks and the Debate Over the Ethics of Bio-Medical Research

A sample taken from her without permission became the immortal He-La cell line used for extensive bio-medical research and then commodified in a multi-million dollar industry. Henrietta Lacks’s story was resurrected in magnificent detail in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, the 2010 best seller by freelance science author Rebecca Skloot.

5 important ways Henrietta Lacks changed medical science

Henrietta Lacks’s cells have long been familiar to scientists — but it was the ethical controversy around those cells that made her famous to the wider world.

HELA100: The Henrietta Lacks Initiative

Join The Lacks Family as we honor her legacy through HELA100: The Henrietta Lacks Initiative by educating future generations on the impact of her HeLa cells while advancing health equity and social justice.

Henrietta Lacks Legacy Group

A non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization, HLLG exists to protect, preserve and promote the legacy of Henrietta Lacks and her singular contributions to modern medicine.

The Henrietta Lacks Foundation

Established in 2010 by Rebecca Skloot, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, the Foundation is inspired by the life of Henrietta Lacks, whose cancer cells—code named HeLa—were taken without her knowledge in 1951.

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