HeLa Cells
Have you ever heard of HeLa cells? They've been around for more than 60 years, but unless you are a medical researcher, you probably never have heard the name of these cells. A HeLa cell is a cell type in an immortal cell line used in scientific research. It is the oldest and most commonly used human cell line. The cell line was found to be remarkably durable and prolific which warrants its extensive use in scientific research.
The line was derived from cervical cancer cells taken on February 8, 1951 from Henrietta Lacks, a patient who died of her cancer on October 4, 1951. She was a black tobacco farmer from southern Virginia who got cervical cancer when she was 30.When the cells were taken, they were given the code name HeLa, for the first two letters in Henrietta and Lacks.
Henrietta's cells were the first immortal human cells ever grown in culture. They were essential to developing the polio vaccine. They went up in the first space missions to see what would happen to cells in zero gravity. Many scientific landmarks since then have used her cells, including cloning, gene mapping and in vitro fertilization.