This educational work worries about the developments in stem cells technology based on research of HeLa cells belonging to Henrietta Lacks, but written for readers that have no prior knowledge of science. The authors’ perspective is not on the controversy of how HeLa cells were procured, but rather on the major role these cells have had in the progress of medicine. It integrates advanced scientific ideas into public understanding by utilizing simplifying explanations, illustrations, and definitions of terms, making it easier for the average person to grasp the significance of stem cell technology in contemporary healthcare.

To begin with, put yourself into a position where you are very ill and in a hospital bed, fully depending on physicians. But suddenly these very physicians, also enriched with the motto ‘first do no harm’ are actually butchering your body unawares and without consent. Such scenes are common in horror movies. However, this is a true account of the young black woman Henrietta Lacks, from whose tissues cells were taken in the year 1951, which was the beginning of biology and medicine’s latest revolution, although based on fictionalised evidence and dishonest practices.

Henrietta Lacks is only thirty one years old when she processes her admission at the Johns Hopkins Hospital complaining of bleeding and pain. The diagnosis made was cervical cancer, however what ensued was nothing other than medical rape. For the sake of diagnosing her cervix, Some portions were excised from her cervix, not for the purpose of treatment but merely because of their insatiable thirst for research. Never was a request made. Never did anyone explain to her the situation. They merely did it (Skloot,2010).

But why? What rationale pushed these so-called moralist professions to behave like any run of the mill burglar? The answer is as logical as it is horrifying: because they could. In the 1950s, poor and coloured ill patients were often viewed as nothing more than the experimental guinea pig by the medical establishment. Their bodies did not belong to them but were the means to be used up in the service of scientific advancement (Lucey et al., 2009).

However it turned out that the cells harvested from Henrietta belonged to the cucumber cells with a twist. They manage to divide and grow almost indefinitely in vitro which is something scientists had never bore witness to. They termed these ‘immortal cells’ HeLa in which the name of the woman was shelved behind an impersonal scientific term.

Somewhere in the bottom of a hospital in Baltimore, while Henrietta was slowly dying, her cells were taking a thrill ride that would one day take them all around the Earth and even the Moon. These cells were sooner rendered a necessity than a rarity in the realm of medical research prompting revolutionary breakthroughs

HeLa cells contributed greatly to the successful introduction of the polio vaccine, which saved millions of lives (Scherer et al. 1953). Among all diseases, the polio, which affects mainly children, is no doubt in a class by itself. The effectiveness and safety of the polio vaccine were tested by these cells.

Dr. Jonas Salk was looking for a dependable and homogenous cell line to grow the poliovirus needed for his invention of the polio vaccine. The HeLa cells were a good choice for this purpose. They were efficiently infectious with the poliovirus and, in quick duration, gave large yields of the virus. This has rendered most studies concerning the virus and other vaccinations against it much easier, given the magnitude of performing what was previously impossible (Scherer et al. 1953).

Research on polio related to HeLa cells made the introduction of the vaccine in 1955 much quicker than it would have been if testing had been done without the cells. A few years later, the incidence of polio in the U.S. decreased significantly, and to date, the disease is on the verge of total eradication.

HeLa cells have served other useful purposes such as understanding cancer growth or investigating AIDS and COVID-19 diseases (Yang et al., 2020), yet their contribution towards the eradication of polio stands out above all as a triumph for public health.

• It was in the development of the polio vaccine which rescued millions of lives (Scherer et al, 1953).
• These helped in the battle against cancer through the understanding of its proliferation.
• These have been used in research of AIDS, genetic mapping, and even the COVID-19 (Yang et al, 2020).

Amazing is it? It can be seen as a splash of colour in a darker picture. Even so, do not forget that this ‘wonder’ was a result of an offence. Henrietta will never know the anguish of her family as she dies. In return for that, her family spent approximately forty years in abject poverty while companies raked in billions from her cells.

Henrietta wasn’t the only one in this story. Past and present state sponsored and institutional discrimination against persons belonging to racially and culturally dominated groups is well documented and unsettling, even the police or the medical establishment. Do you remember the Tuskegee Syphilis Study? Scientists observed Black men dying of a curable disease and doing nothing throughout the science for 4 decades (Brandt, 1978). That was not some history in the long-forgotten past – that was occurring while Henrietta’s cells were being harvested.

Are there any surprises why a number of Black Americans are suspicious of the healthcare system? A study published in 2003 stated that a vast majority has never participated in cancer research because they are frightened that the doctors will involve them in research without their permission (Boulware et al., 2003). How can they be blamed?

But I can hear some of you say, hang on a minute. Clearly, things would have improved? You are right and also wrong. In recent times the tide has turned and attempts have been made to address the past injustices. In 2013, the family of Henrietta finally obtained some control over research use of genetic data derived from Henrietta (Callaway, 2013). Nowadays it is almost impossible to conduct research without obtaining informed consent and conducting ethical research.

Investigations have revealed that it is a cross-cutting issue that has forced scientists and physicians to seek out ways to redefine how they engage with both the public and the medical profession. Specifically, they are trying to normalise, to some extent, informed consent in their research, which does include a wider variety of people in clinical studies, and protecting patient’s rights. They admit that there were mistakes, and there are efforts to rectify the situation.

However, before we start giving ourselves credit for things that we have not yet achieved I would encourage you to wait. The account of HeLa cells acts as a severe cautionary tale about how terrible the conduct of some scientists can go if there are no controls in place. It is a clarion call that scientists ought not to rest but should be prepared at all times to interrogate all notions regarding the place of science in the affairs of mankind and more so the perfecting of human society and not just the selected elites.

HeLa cells have without doubt been instrumental in saving lives. Yes, They are pioneering that has been achieved in the field of Medicine. But at what cost? A woman’s independence? A familial relationship? A community’s reliance on healthcare? As we move on, it is essential that we bear the burden of this past. We should not only recall the name of Henrietta Lacks as an invaluable resource of wonder cells and ignore the fact that she was an oppressed woman. Progress in science and ethics should not be two opposite directions. Continuing with that through the body of the proposed HeLa cells, no one is considered a commodity for any goal. Though in a way the legacy of the HeLa cells is that simple. It is a tale of great inventions, the rise of science, and the evil of abuse and racism. It is a warning message, that though in the course of working towards solutions for diseases we should not behave in a barbaric manner. And because there are beneficial/deleterious effects due to HeLa cells, I hope we should improve our moral values. 

Reestablishing confidence is a long journey but one that we all must make together. In the end, science is so much more than cells in a petri dish or information on a graph. It is about the people – their lives, their worth, their narrative. And each one of them is important.