That's not my name, and we are not the same person. But I feel a deep connection to Lacks, a poor black woman from rural Virginia who died almost 60 years ago. In many ways, I am her.
Chances are, you've never heard of Lacks, which is one of the many injustices in her heartbreaking story.
Virtually all of us have benefited in some way from her immense contributions to science and medicine. Research using Lacks' cells was essential to developing the polio vaccine, in-vitro fertilization, cloning and gene mapping. They aided scientists to better understand the workings of cancer and countless viruses and were used to develop drugs for herpes, leukemia, influenza, hemophilia and Parkinson's disease.
Before HeLa — the name comes from the first two letters of her first and last name — scientists struggled to culture human cells, often failing. But HeLa cells multiplied quickly and easily and didn't die. Scientists refer to them as immortal. HeLa became the first immortal human cells ever grown in a laboratory.
And of course it was a tragic tale of racism.
I'll have to check into this book about her.
There's more about her here.
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