Check out the Chicago Humanities Festival lecture on the history of Polio. Click here to listen.
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Welcome to the One Book Blog — the source for all the latest thoughts, stories, links, events, pictures and videos related to The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lackss and engaged learning at Northwestern. Most of what you see here comes from our One Book Ambassadors but anyone at NU can submit a post! Scroll through the content below or click the categories to filter what you see.
Thanks to Heather Nystedt for sending along these pictures from Homecoming weekend. You can still make your mark on The Immortal Art Project before it is exhibited at the Block Museum this spring! See our main website for details on how to bring the project to your department or group.
Last Tuesday, we held an event called “The Social Worlds of Henrietta Lacks.” This sociology panel was quite well attended! But if you missed out, Wendy Griswold, one of the speakers, took some photos for her talk on Clover and the Culture of Place.
Head to her Flickr page to take a look at Henrietta’s birthplace.
The following speech was delivered Wednesday, October 19 at a dramatic reading of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks directed by David Prete.
What drives scientific endeavor? Just like today, the scientists in the first half of the 20th century were driven by the same motivations: a thirst for discovery, to find cures for diseases; or in some cases prestige, recognition, and a desire to be the first to discover something. But earlier scientists were influenced by many factors that we in the 21st century are not. What was the state of biological science research in 1950? After WWI, a group of former chemical warfare research chemists tried to find private patrons to fund an organized research effort to use the new chemistry they had established for medical purposes. Unsuccessful in this effort, they lobbied congress for public support of research. Finally, in 1930, the Ransdell Act established the National Institutes of Health to create fellowships for research into basic biological and medical problems. This marked a major change in the attitude of the US scientific community toward public funding of medical research. The NIH focused primarily on war related problems from 1940-45. During the war, 43 percent of potential inductees were unfit for general military service and 28 percent were unfit for any military service; mainly due to defective teeth and syphilis.
By 1950, biochemists had worked out the details of many of the metabolic pathways, but cell biology was still largely a descriptive science and the beginning of the age of molecular biology was still at least a decade away. The fact that DNA was the molecule of heredity was suspected, but would not be firmly established until 1952, with Watson, Crick, Wilkins and Franklin determining its double helical structure one year later. Much of research in those days was done in military facilities or as a sideline by physicians using equipment they could make themselves.
Prior to 1950, death or disability due to infections from bacteria or viruses was common; for the year 1948 the New York Times reported that there were nearly 28,000 cases of paralytic polio in the US. The Salk vaccine would not start large scale field trials until 1954. Infant mortality rates had been decreasing for both whites and blacks since 1900, but were still 4-5 times higher than today. Sexually transmitted diseases like syphilis and gonorrhea were common, and for many untreated. Infections killed people on massive scales. An estimated 100 million people worldwide died from the influenza pandemic of 1918-19. At least 30% of deaths among soldiers in the first and second world wars were from infections and disease due to the lack of antibiotics. The first mass produced antibiotics, sulfa drugs, became available in the late 1930s and penicillin would only be produced commercially late in the second world war.
With the use of antibiotics in the 1930s and 40s and improvements in sanitation and diet, life expectancy improved, but a new problem became apparent: cancer. While cancer had always been a significant cause of death, it was only after premature death due to infections increased the number of people living to older adulthood did medicine begin to see cancer as a major problem. Scientists already knew that cancer could be caused by chemicals, radiation, and viruses, and that sometimes cancer seemed to run in families. But prior to the understanding of DNA and genes, we did not know what these agents did to cells to cause cancer. Radiation treatments using both X-rays and radium for cancer had become well established by the 1920s. By modern standards, these treatments could sometimes be nothing short of barbaric, leading to scarring, loss of organ function, intense pain and discomfort and not infrequently, death. Due to the growing concern in the nation about cancer, congress established the National Cancer Institute in 1937 to fund research into the causes of cancer and therapies.
Patient rights were also very different in the 1940s compared to today. There were no HIPAA rules giving patients confidentiality or rights. For most people, especially those with little education, doctors were gods whose word was not questioned. Tissue removed in a medical procedure was routinely used for research without any regulation. If a physician or scientist wanted a tissue sample for their research, it was as simple as asking a surgeon colleague obtain some during their next surgery, or taking a biopsy during an office visit. Many physicians and scientists were also influenced by the early 20th century eugenics movement even though it had been largely discredited due to the atrocities of the Nazis in the 1930s and 1940s. In the US, this movement was influential in the design of many of our immigration and racial segregation laws that persisted into the 1970s and in some ways continue today. The idea that certain races or ethnicities were inferior to Anglo Saxon or northern European stock was commonly held, including among the largely white male European medical and scientific establishment. Persons of color, mental patients, prisoners, US servicemen and even schoolchildren were routinely used as research subjects without knowledge of what they were being given or in some cases without even knowing that they were part of an experiment.
The ability to grow cancer cells and normal cells in the laboratory would provide an abundant and reproducible source of material to study, two criteria essential for biology research. However, in the 1940s, the establishment of stable populations of cells that would grow indefinitely, or grow at all under laboratory conditions, was still largely a dream. An immortalized mouse cell line had been developed in 1940, but no continuous human cell line existed: until HeLa. With a continuous and stable cell population, cellular processes could be studies, viruses could be grown to make vaccines, and drugs could be tested for toxicity without involving expensive animal studies. The process for making a permanent cell line is tedious today; in 1951 it must have seemed insurmountable. In 1950, the media needed to culture cells was a witch’s brew of crude extracts of animal embryos, sugars and salts that sometimes worked and most times did not. Coupled with the laboratory conditions that we today would find primitive, it is a wonder that anyone was successful in achieving this goal. For example, the first laboratory of Ted Puck at the University of Colorado, where the first clone of HeLa designated S3 was isolated in 1956, was an old lumber storage room in the basement of the medical school that was cleaned out, painted and used as his laboratory. In retrospect, it is probably the robustness of the HeLa line and its unique ability to grow under nutrient poor conditions that led to success.
HeLa cells are probably one of the most important tools for research and medicine of the 20th century. HeLa cells provided by the Carver Foundation at Tuskegee University were used to test the Salk polio vaccine in the 1950s. Since that time, HeLa cells have helped us to unlock the mechanisms of virus infections, have been used to test chemotherapy agents and have helped win several Nobel prizes. They have been used to monitor radiation levels at nuclear test sites, flown multiple times on the space shuttle, and spent time on Skylab and the Russian Mir. By providing the raw material for the purification of proteins and nucleic acids, these cells were instrumental in deciphering the mysteries of DNA replication, gene expression and the cell cycle. They continue to be a powerful tool in thousands of laboratories around the world and will continue in that role for years to come.
Stephen A. Adam, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Cell and Molecular Biology
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
HeLa cells were used in this study just published in Nature by one of our faculty.
A team led by Northwestern University chemical biologist Neil Kelleher has developed a new “top-down” method that can separate and identify thousands of protein molecules quickly. Many have been skeptical that such an approach, where each protein is analyzed intact instead of in smaller parts, could be done on such a large scale.
Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments!
On October 12th, Dr. Kelly Mayo, director of the Center for Reproductive Science, and Dr. Laimonis Laimins, Chair, Department of Microbiology-Immunology, led a book discussion organized by the Center for Reproductive Science. The topic was “Why are Henrietta’s cells still alive? HPV and cervical cancer”. Prior to this event I posted on this blog and raised a number of questions about the biology of the disease that killed Henrietta Lacks a half century ago. Dr. Laimins in his opening remarks and answering questions provided some of the facts about cervical cancer and HPV. Drs. Laimins & Mayo also talked about how some cells are immortal.
- About 12,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year in the US.
- About 4,000 women die from cervical cancer each year in the US.
- Up to 99% of those cases of cervical cancer are caused by HPV.
- HPV stands for human papilloma virus and it is estimated that at least half of sexually active women will be infected with this virus.
- A very few women who are infected with HPV fail to clear the virus and develop a long-term infection. The viral DNA inserts into the DNA of the human cell and this eventually leads to cancer in some people.
- Men can also get cancer caused by HPV. Anal and oral cancers caused by HPV appear with equal frequency in men and women.
- The HPV vaccine works like other vaccines. The vaccine prepares your own immune system to fight off the virus. A person must have the vaccine before being exposed to the virus to be protected.
- Cells from Henrietta’s cervix had HPV DNA inserted into the human DNA and this combined with other changes over time led to tumor cells.
- At the time Henrietta’s tumor was put into culture, the techniques for growing cells in the lab were not well established. Dr. Gey’s group was successful, because of their methods and the aggressiveness of these tumor cells. Thus, HeLa cells were the first human immortal cell line.
- Today we have hundreds of tumor cell lines that grow in culture. Once tumor cells are established in culture they are immortal. Normal cells die after dividing 40-60 times, except for very special populations of stem cells.
- HeLa cells will probably remain important to biomedical research as they are still very easy to grow and so much prior work has been done with them.
The lively breakout small group discussions covered a wide variety of topics and viewpoints. My group talked about vaccine safety, how they work, and the large number now recommended for young children. We also talked about how science is done and how well scientists do – or do not – communicate with and show consideration for the interests of the patients providing tissue for research. This led to a spirited exchange on who should profit from HeLa cells. Are these issues on which you have an opinion? Then you may want to rsvp to onebook@northwestern.edu for the next book discussion hosted by the Center for Reproductive Science on November 3rd** at 6:30 – 8 pm in the Ver Steeg Lounge, University Library, 3rd floor, south tower, Evanston. Dr. Teresa Woodruff & Dr. Laurie Zoloth will be facilitating the discussion entitled “An Immortal Life: Who should own Henrietta’s cells?”.
*See the Centers for Disease Control for more info: www.cdc.gov/cancer/cervical/statistics/index.htm
**Please note that the date and place of this session have changed since the bookmarks were handed out during welcome week. Sorry for any confusion! See the One Book One Northwestern planit purple calendar at http://planitpurple.northwestern.edu/calendar/obon2011 for current information on all events.
Fern Murdoch
Center for Reproductive Science
Check out this trailer for our dramatic reading of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, From the Page to the Stage! Support Northwestern student actors and directors on Wednesday afternoon (and you might just win a prize)! RSVP on our Facebook event for more information.
When I first read about Carrel’s “immortal chicken heart” in the book, all sorts of bizarre images came to my mind. Like a huge heart running around on little chicken legs, headless, but with wings flapping. Sounds more like science fiction than real science. In fact, the heart cells that Carrel cultured in his lab were not immortal, but they were cells that grew in little dishes instead of in a chicken’s body. It seems that he added new cells from fresh chicken hearts regularly and that is why the cells seemed to grow forever. The cells taken from Henrietta’s Lacks’ cervix really were immortal. They are still grown in labs around the world today.
The comparison of the stories of Dr. Alexis Carrel’s immortal chicken heart and Dr. George Gey’s HeLa cells raised two major themes in my mind.
The first is about cells and how they work. The cell is the smallest unit of life and all of life is made up of cells. Why can some cells grow in a little dish in the lab, but others die? How do cells decide when to grow? Dr. Carrel wasn’t really growing a whole heart in a little dish, but could you? If you can grow cells in a lab, how much harder would it be to grow an organ to use for medical treatment?
The second theme is about the practice of science. Drs. Carrel and Gey were completely different. Carrel seemed to help promote the exaggerated and even wild claims about his cells in order to increase his own fame. Gey gave away his cells to anyone who asked and promoted their use for a wide variety of studies that helped to produce important medical advances. Today the average biology graduate student will probably never hear about Carrel’s “immortal chicken heart”, but may well use HeLa cells at some point in an experiment. Does the behavior of the scientist matter to the progress of science? Dr. Gey never made much off of HeLa cells. Was he a fool or a hero?
The Center for Reproductive Science is organizing 3 book discussions to consider the biology behind the story and the issues and questions the book raises. Northwestern faculty and members of CRS will participate in each discussion and lead a panel at the end to answer questions and highlight issues and controversies. The first session is focused on HPV and cervical cancer and how cells can become immortal.
October 12 – 5:30-7 p.m.
“Why are Henrietta’s cells still alive? HPV and cervical cancer”
Dittmar Memorial Gallery, Norris University Center
Light dinner provided by Dittmar Memorial Gallery
Book Discussions sponsored by One Book One Northwestern and the Center for Reproductive Science. Please RSVP to onebook@northwestern.edu .
Check back here for more posts from me about each session. Be sure to check out the rest of the One Book One Northwestern web site for other events. I hope you can join the discussion!
Fern Murdoch
Center for Reproductive Science
At the Republican presidential candidate debate on September 12, Governor Rick Perry and Representative Michelle Bachmann argued about the HPV vaccine. The full transcript of the debate can be found at http://archives.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1109/12/se.06.html . The specific exchange is quoted below:
BLITZER: “Governor Perry, as you well know, you signed an executive order requiring little girls 11 and 12-year-old girls to get a vaccine to deal with a sexually transmitted disease that could lead to cervical cancer. Was that a mistake?”
PERRY: “It was. And indeed, if I had it to do over again, I would have done it differently. I would have gone to the legislature, worked with them. But what was driving me was, obviously, making a difference about young people’s lives.
“Cervical cancer is a horrible way to die. And I happen to think that what we were trying to do was to clearly send a message that we’re going to give moms and dads the opportunity to make that decision with parental opt-out.
“Parental rights are very important in state of Texas. We do it on a long list of vaccines that are made, but on that particular issue, I will tell you that I made a mistake by not going to the legislature first. Let me address Ron Paul just a minute by saying I will use an executive order to get rid of as much of Obamacare as I can on day one.”
(APPLAUSE)
BLITZER: “Congresswoman Bachmann, do you have anything to say about what Governor Perry just said. You’re a mom.”
BACHMANN: “I’m a mom. And I’m a mom of three children. And to have innocent little 12-year-old girls be forced to have a government injection through an executive order is just flat out wrong. That should never be done. It’s a violation of a liberty interest.
“That’s — little girls who have a negative reaction to this potentially dangerous drug don’t get a mulligan. They don’t get a do- over. The parents don’t get a do-over. That’s why I fought so hard in Washington, D.C., against President Obama and Obamacare.”
So what are the facts about cervical cancer and the HPV vaccine? Henrietta Lacks could attest to the part about cervical cancer being a horrible way to die. Rebecca Skloot’s book details her painful death at the young age of 31 leaving five children without a mom. Would the HPV vaccine have saved her life? How does it work? Is it really dangerous? How does HPV cause cervical cancer in the first place?
The Center for Reproductive Science is organizing 3 book discussions to consider the biology behind the story and the issues and questions the book raises. Northwestern faculty and members of CRS will participate in each discussion and lead a panel at the end to answer questions and highlight issues and controversies. The first session is focused on HPV and cervical cancer and how cells can become immortal.
October 12 – 5:30-7 p.m.
“Why are Henrietta’s cells still alive? HPV and cervical cancer”
Dittmar Memorial Gallery, Norris University Center
Light dinner provided by Dittmar Memorial Gallery
Book Discussions sponsored by One Book One Northwestern and the Center for Reproductive Science. Please RSVP to onebook@northwestern.edu .
Check back here for more posts from me about each session. Be sure to check out the rest of the One Book One Northwestern web site for other events. I hope you can join the discussion!
Fern Murdoch
Center for Reproductive Science
When I took a cell biology lab course 30 years ago I was amazed to learn that there were cells that could divide forever and never die! Even more amazing was to contemplate the fact that the cells growing in little plates and bottles in labs all over the world came from a woman who had died many years earlier. The cells were called HeLa and I was told that a woman named “Helen Lane” had donated them to science before she died. How little I really knew.
Fast forward to last year when I read “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot. Turns out that the cells that have so fascinated me for years, came not from “Helen Lane”, but Henrietta Lacks. Skloot’s book brought to life Henrietta’s hopes, joys, struggles and the tragedy of her early death. It also turns out that Henrietta didn’t quite donate her cells to science…. The real story is steeped in the issues of race, gender, poverty, and how science and medicine were practiced in 1951.
The story of Henrietta and the family she left behind raises so many issues and questions. Issues of race and gender formed unbreakable boundaries around Henrietta’s life and the book makes you ask – how much has really changed? Some issues are social and economic like those raised by the statement from Henrietta’s daughter, Deborah:
“But I always have thought it was strange, if our mother cells done so much for medicine, how come her family can’t afford to see no doctors?” (pg. 9)
And the very human story of Henrietta and her cells raises a multitude of questions about biology, medicine, and the tension between science and society. Why do some cells grow forever, but most cells die? What is cancer and why do some tumors escape from every medical treatment available? How do scientists grow cells in laboratories? What rights does a patient have to what is done with their cells? Who owns your body, your cells, or your tumor? Does race or gender matter for medical care? Does it matter in terms of the care a person is offered now or 60 years ago? Does it matter in terms of the biology of that person’s body? So many questions!
As a biologist, these cells and the results of over 60 years of medical research using them, fascinate me. As a person, I am deeply captivated by the story of the woman who left this legacy to us. In order to fully appreciate the value of this legacy, I think we need to appreciate the biology behind Henrietta’s story. This book gives us a wonderful start for this discussion. The Center for Reproductive Science is organizing 3 book discussions to consider the biology behind the story and the issues and questions the book raises. Northwestern faculty and members of CRS will participate in each discussion and lead a panel at the end to answer questions and highlight issues and controversies. The sessions:
October 12: “Why are Henrietta’s cells still alive? HPV and cervical cancer”
November 3: “An immortal life: Who should own Henrietta’s cells?
November 29: “Race, gender and medical care”
Check back here for more posts from me about each session. I hope you can join the discussion!
Fern Murdoch
Center for Reproductive Science
Check out the Chicago Humanities Festival lecture on the history of Polio. Click here to listen.
- A: The effects of the virus are less seen in boys, but the protection is still needed.
- Q: What is the benefit of the HPV virus for boys?
- A: HeLa will still be used and grow in the science world, but other cells for testing will keep being discovered.
- Q: Will HeLa continue to last or will it be delegated to certain testing?
- A: Autonomy and consent are the two biggest debates in testing.
