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The Beginning of HeLa
Henrietta Lacks goes to Johns Hopkins Hospital to receive treatment for her cervical cancer. During treatment the doctor removes some of her cervix cells and sends them to his assistant Mary in the Lab. The cells are named HeLa after the first two letters of Henrietta Lacks' name. -
HeLa Cells Begin to Grow
George Gey uses the cells from Henrietta's cervix to make the first immortal line of cells. HeLa is born and history is made. -
HeLa Reaches the Mail
With the abundance of HeLa cells able to be made there is room for experimentation on how to send them to other scientists. HeLa cells were successfully sent through the mail resulting in the ability of scientists all over the world to get their hands on these new immortal cells. A door is wide open for cell transportation in the future. -
HeLa and Polio
Scientists begin to experiment with the polio virus and HeLa cells were a great tool for it. The virus grows very well in HeLa cells and studying this gets scientist much closer to a polio vaccine. -
HeLa Times Two
HeLa cells become the first cells to ever be cloned. This process shows how strong, versatile and important Henrietta's cells are. -
Radiation
Scientists begin examining the effects of radiation on human cells. Henrietta's cells were exposed to radiation during her cancer treatments so her HeLa cells became a great tool for the research. Research concludes that radiation in large quantities is not safe for the body. -
Cancer Research
Hela cells are cancerous, so scientists started using them to see if there was a test to prove whether or not cells were cancerous. Using HeLa cells, scientists were able create a very reliable test to find out if cells are cancerous, this test is still often used today. -
HeLa and the Space Race
In the competition of space exploration it was very important to find out how to make space safe for human exploration. HeLa was stowed away inside the first capsules to make it into space. Scientists could then study the cells when they returned to Earth to see how to safely send a human into space, It was better to test on cells than a human making Hela once again a very valuable tool for the future. -
HeLa Mice
Scientists were able to fuse HeLa cells with mouse cells. The way these cells interacted with each other made it easier for scientists to see how chromosomes influenced cell traits. A deeper understanding of chromosomes and DNA followed -
HeLa Contamination
Scientist, Stanley Gartler, proposes the idea that HeLa cells have infested numerous cell lines making much research void. The news is so devastating that many scientists choose to ignore his findings. Gartler noticed that G6PD-A was found in several cell cultures which is a rare genetic marker found only in the DNA of black americans. Progress is halted on cell research. -
HeLa's Decedents
Scientist are puzzled by how strong these HeLa cells are, the fact that they can travel through air into other cell cultures fascinates and frightens them. To get a better understanding of these cells Johns Hopkins takes DNA samples from Henrietta's children to further their investigations. This is done without the children's knowledge or approval. -
Camptothecin
Scientists inject HeLa cells with a drug called Camptothecin, this drug limits the unstoppable growth of cancer cells. This drug is approved by the FDA as a treatment for some types of cancer. -
Hela Cell Caps
Dr. Blackburn, Dr. Greider, and Dr. Szostak receive a nobel prize for their research on HeLa cells. They discover that there is a telomere cap on each end of the chromosome and that this cap is replenished by telomerase. This is an important discovery because it helps scientists to see the aging processes on the cellular level.