Henrietta Lacks and Her Posthumous Gift to Us All

Henrietta Lacks didn't live nearly as long as she should have, yet in a way she clings to life to this day. Her cells live on as the famous and ubiquitous HeLa cells in labs and hospitals around the world, and have enabled a huge number of major medical breakthroughs over the past 60 years, while at the same time stirring up a lot of debate and controversy over the ethics of research consent. In death, as in life, Henrietta Lacks is a complicated lady, and one we all need to thank.

Further Reading:

• The Lacks Family (official site)
• Henrietta Lacks' 'Immortal' Cells (Smithsonian)
• A Family Consents to a Medical Gift, 62 Years Later (New York Times)
• Henrietta Lacks: the mother of modern medicine (The Guardian)