Author Topic: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot ~ Oct Book Club Online (Read 31646 times)

PatH · « **Reply #120 on:** October 13, 2016, 01:32:05 PM »

The Book Club Online is the oldest book club on the Internet, begun in 1996, open to everyone. We offer cordial discussions of one book a month, 24/7 and enjoy the company of readers from all over the world. Everyone is welcome.

October Book Club Online

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
by Rebecca Skloot

"There's a photo on my wall of a woman I've never met, its left corner torn and patched together with tape. She looks straight into the camera and smiles, hands on hips, dress suit neatly pressed, lips painted deep red. It's the late l940s and she hasn't yet reached the age of thirty. Her light brown skin is smooth, her eyes still young and playful, oblivious to the tumor growing inside her-a tumor that would leave her five children motherless and change the future of medicine." -Rebecca Skloot

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/07/books/review/Margonelli-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

http://www.biography.com/people/henrietta-lacks-21366671

http://www.lacksfamily.net/

Part One: LIFE Oct. 1-8
Part Two: DEATH Oct 9-?

How did the Nuremberg Code gets its name?

How is the Code policed?

Living wills - do they work all the time? What experience have you had with them?

What were the two new things learned about cells growing in culture?

What was the CCCC? And later the ATCC? What were their missions and how did HELA become part of it?

Genetics, what a fascinating history! How did HELA help scientists in the study of genetics?

Do you think it is necesary to the book to put in chapters such as 19 which spells out all the troubles the Lacks family had?

Discussion Leaders: Ella, Adoannie, PatH

ANNIE · « **Reply #121 on:** October 13, 2016, 01:45:09 PM »

PatH, thanks for putting up my links. I am just amazed by
all the unknown to me information that is in this book!

Bella, am so sorry to hear about your friend's daughter.
Like you, I wonder if The HELA cells were ever used to improve her life.
🙏🙏 for you all.

bellamarie · « **Reply #122 on:** October 13, 2016, 04:18:57 PM »

Thanks PatH., for the heads up on ch 15 & 16. I may do as you suggest and not read them at this time. Thank you Annie, I suspect the next few days will be difficult to get through.

maryz · « **Reply #123 on:** October 13, 2016, 04:39:14 PM »

Bella, so sorry about your friend. It's hard to take at any time, but especially with one so young. Hugs!

PatH · « **Reply #124 on:** October 13, 2016, 05:24:16 PM »

There are plenty of science chapters if you choose to read them. In this section they are:

13. the autopsy, Tuskeegee facility, cell culture takes off
14. the name leaks out a bit
17. unethical experiments, ethics standards put in place
18. cell culture expands rapidly but sloppily, cell fusion
20. massive cell contamination crisis
22. Guy, Hen's cancer reclassified, her name becomes common knowledge

Ella Gibbons · « **Reply #125 on:** October 14, 2016, 10:44:20 AM »

Chapter 17 is interesting, have you read it? This fellow named Southam, chief of virology at Sloan-Kettering, did some experiments with HELA, some on cancer patients, and then on people without cancer and where did he find those? At Ohio State Penitentiary. Volunteers! And later he started injections on his regular patients.

How would you like to be one of those? He didn't explain to his patients that they were injections of cancerous cells because he didn't want to scare them.

Do you remember what stopped that practice?

PatH · « **Reply #126 on:** October 14, 2016, 12:24:02 PM »

There are so many interesting and important medical issues in this book. That was a big one; the cancer cell injections caused an uproar that ended with a set of rules for getting informed consent from patients, and stricter ethics.

We all grew up with doctors who didn't believe in telling patients much, or making them part of the decision process. This book reminds me of just how different things were. I remember my frustration as a child and teenager trying to get more information from doctors. "What's this medicine for?" "For what ails you."

To be fair, she did share much important information with us.

PatH · « **Reply #127 on:** October 14, 2016, 12:42:06 PM »

I have a question for everyone: where are you in the book? There's a lot of good stuff in this section, and I don't want to be out of step with you.

Ella Gibbons · « **Reply #128 on:** October 14, 2016, 12:50:27 PM »

You are so right, Pat about doctors keeping us uninformed. I always thought it was because they were too busy to take the time or they didn't feel the need to inform (superiority). THEY KNEW! Who are we to question?

We have learned somewhat, don't you think? I once had a doctor who opened his PDR huge book and had me read about an injection he was giving me. (The early cortisone) The doctor later died an early death because of high blood pressure and I wondered why he could not keep that under control.

Ella Gibbons · « **Reply #129 on:** October 14, 2016, 12:56:31 PM »

I agree Pat, lots of good stuff. I've been trying to put questions in the heading and am having problems. I'll get it worked out.

They concern Chapters 17 and 18. FASCINATING!

We have questioned ourselves about the "cancer" in the HELA cell. Now we are getting to the answers.

Ella Gibbons · « **Reply #130 on:** October 14, 2016, 01:06:46 PM »

So let's begin with Chapter 17. What did you learn or what interested you the most in this chapter?

bellamarie · « **Reply #131 on:** October 14, 2016, 03:03:07 PM »

I decided to not skip the chapters so I am into ch 16.

PatH., you are so right about so many issues in this book, not only ethical but legal. This really made me angry when I read this:

pg. 103 -104 Since the launch of the HeLa production factory at Tuskegee, Gey had been writing a steady stream of letters to other scientists, trying to restrict the way they used Henrietta's cells. At one point he wrote his longtime friend and colleague Charles Pomerat, lamenting the fact that others, including some of Pomerat's lab, were using HeLa for research Gey was "most capable" of doing himself, and in some cases already done, but not yet published. Pomerat replied:
With regard to your...disapproval for a wide exploration of the HeLa strain, I don't see how you can hope to inhibit progress in this direction since you released the strain so widely that it now can be purchased commercially. This is a little bit like requesting people not to work on the golden hamster!...I realize that it is the goodness of your heart that made available the HeLa cell and therefore why you now find that every body want to get into the act.

Gey does not want Henrietta's name to get out in articles, he says because of the privacy of the family, but in fact his biggest concern is that the family would learn they used her cells without hers or their permission. So Gey created the pseudonym to throw journalists off the trail of Henrietta's real identity. And because of that her family had no idea her cells were alive. pg. 109

This entire chapter made me a bit upset, and wondered how Gey thought he could actually keep the family name hidden forever and keep these cells from getting into mass production. Sorta like trying to put the Genie back into the bottle, once she has escaped.

Thank you Maryz for you kind words. I will be going to the funeral home later today. Expect it will be extremely difficult to see my best friends in so much pain.

JoanK · « **Reply #132 on:** October 14, 2016, 05:08:40 PM »

BELLAMARIE: so sorry for your friend's loss. We are all with you.

BarbStAubrey · « **Reply #133 on:** October 14, 2016, 05:32:29 PM »

Seems to me any new creation loses its purity to the original - and I also think creations are not entirely understood even during experimentation -

I'm thinking the atom bomb - no matter what the scientists concerns, even they had no idea of the radiation damage that would cause cancer - I remember seeing the movie clips of dignitaries and service personal within a few miles of an atom blast. The soldiers in fox holes and the dignitaries only a few miles back sitting as spectators and the ONLY protection any of them had were dark glasses - no one had any idea they were all going to have a slow death with cancer being the culprit.

And for taking an idea or 'germ' of an idea and sharing it, you do loose all control - my grandson is going through that now - instead of hiring help he partnered with someone to produce a video game who of course could not see into my grandson's imagination exactly as my grandson saw the outcome of this game and grandson was not prepared for a collaborative outcome but that is all that is left because if either let go and it makes money the lawyers get most of it.

To think beforehand while the thrill of awareness and working on something so new takes over our whole being does not seem to pair with dotting every i and crossing every t - I can see how the excitement of discovery was chased so that only after the fact was the realization that permission was not sought. If someone lives their life with integrity this would bother them. They would not want the world to know they allowed their emotions to get the better of them and then, to think others were benefiting from your carelessness - ouch ouch - He was probably a good man who was not out to harm but, the excitement of what he was finding and learning was greater than the pragmatic mindset needed to protect the family and his reputation.

The creative geniuses of our world have a difficult balancing act. I'm thinking now of de Vinci who dissected corpses and paid grave diggers for a human corpse which both were against the law. It is like for some, their curiosity and need to learn takes over and following community values is beyond their conscious mind - not even pushed back - simply gone, vanishes into the ether till, something or someone says or does something that brings them back.

ANNIE · « **Reply #134 on:** October 14, 2016, 10:57:39 PM »

Barbara, didn't Michelangelo do the same thing? For gaining more knowledge of how the muscles were attached plus other body information for when formed his sculptures?

Like you, I think Gey was just so thrilled and wanted to share his new accomplishment with every
one else who had been trying to have cells live and reproduce that he just didn't think when he shared them.

ANNIE · « **Reply #135 on:** October 15, 2016, 10:53:11 AM »

PatH, an I understanding this correctly that because the rules aren't laws, many scientists ignore them? It's as if they thought they were just suggestions.

The virologist, Southam, certainly frightened me. Do these experiments still go on today? There is an interesting little clip in the AARP Bulletin about drinking very hot beverages. The World Health Organization has warned that anything above 149 degrees may possibly cause esophageal cancer. Pg 34.
On Pg 36, an article about HPV(human papillomavirus). This is the same virus that causes cervical cancer. So we are getting somewhere with diagnoses. An oncologist at the Ohio State University in Columbus, OH was one of the first researchers to suspect that HPV was causing these cancers.
It's just amazing to me; how far we have come! I wonder if these researchers are using HELA cells to conduct their studies? National Geographic devoted one their issues to DNA! Fascinating yet scary stuff is going on.

So back to the book! And the stories about where and how the HELA cells were being used on patients without their informed consent. But where does a doctor or researcher start when explaining what they are doing?

PatH · « **Reply #136 on:** October 15, 2016, 03:21:18 PM »

So many ethical issues. Annie, I don't know much about the legal force of the rules, but I doubt many scientists ignore them.
Firstly, there is the force of opinion. Fellow scientists would ostracize them, and many journals wouldn't publish work that was done like that. Secondly, there is the force of funding. NIH, which funds a huge amount of medical research, has very strict guidelines; you can't get a grant without explaining how you are going to handle informed consent, and they check up on you, and can take away your funding if you don't comply. Universities and other government agencies also have ethical guidelines which they enforce.

Southam was a piece of work, wasn't he? It's perfectly obvious from the quotes that he didn't altogether believe his own justifications. For example, he says there is no risk, but he doesn't inject himself because "there are relatively few skilled cancer researchers, and it seemed stupid to take even the little risk." In other words, he admits there is some risk, but he is a more important person than his subjects.

Ella Gibbons · « **Reply #137 on:** October 16, 2016, 01:58:07 PM »

INFORMED CONSENT. A huge subject. I think we can all undersand how important this is in medical science if we read Page 131 or Chapter 17. We all know about the Naziis and the terrible research they performed on human subjects. On August 10, 1947 seven Nazi doctors were hanged for their crimes. From this trial came the NUREMBERG CODE - a code which was to govern all human experimentation worldwide. It is still being used everywhere, you can read it online.

But the Code is NOT THE LAW. It is recommendations. Chapter 17 spells out the differences, how it is enforced, how it is treated in the courts, etc. An interesting chapter.

My daughter had to get 36 "informed consents" from pregnant women when she was getting her PH.D. even though she was just going to ask them to fill out a questionnaire. (as I remember it, but I think I'm right)

Any of you familiar with "informed consent?"

What of that Marin Saigo who woke up paralyzed after a routine surgery?

Do you question doctors thoroughly before a surgery? Can you ask for references?

bellamarie · « **Reply #138 on:** October 16, 2016, 07:10:23 PM »

Ella Gibbons,

Quote

Do you question doctors thoroughly before a surgery? Can you ask for references?

Absolutely, Yes! When I was deciding to have my hysterectomy back fourteen years ago, I not only questioned my female doctor who would perform my surgery, but I also read many articles, and a book called "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause" by Dr. John Lee. (He was a courageous pioneer who changed the face of medicine by introducing the concepts of natural progesterone, estrogen dominance and hormone balance to a large audience of women and men seeking answers to their hormone questions.)
http://www.virginiahopkinstestkits.com/aboutdrjohnlee.html

My sisters who had all gone through menopause before me who had taken synthetic HRT, were all telling me what to expect. I chose to use the natural progesterone cream Dr. John R. Lee recommended in his book, and when my female gynecologist expressed her concerns, I asked if she had read his book. She said she had not, but a few people had mentioned the book to her. I told her not only as a doctor, but for her being a female that will one day have to make this decision, it would be a good idea to read this book and do more research, before pushing the synthetic drugs. I had my hysterectomy and went through menopause without a hitch!!

"As long as drug companies are educating our doctors, we will be stuck in a dark age of medicine where profit rules and confusion reigns."
http://www.virginiahopkinstestkits.com/hysterectomyhormones.html

I also had a long list of questions when I met with my pre surgical nurse and asked who would be counting the surgical tools, cloths, etc., I told her I knew two friends who had surgery and a sponge was left in one and a tool was left in another. She said there would be one person assigned to just that, counting the items before, during and after surgery. When I woke up they assured me all items were accounted for.

After my surgery a male partner gynecologist came into my room to do the follow up since my female doctor was not on call, he tried to push the synthetic HRT and I told him I had already discussed my plan with my female doctor. Talk about a man 6'4 about 220 lbs looking red in the face, he got a bit edgy with me and I thanked him and said I have it covered. I did my follow up check ups and annual pap smears with my female gyn and she was amazed at my results of recovery and lack of symptoms most post menopausal women had.

bellamarie · « **Reply #139 on:** October 16, 2016, 07:37:04 PM »

I just finished Part Two and my heart just goes out to the Lacks family. This author sure had a way with communicating with them, earning their trust and getting them to open up to her. It sure opens our eyes to the fact that science is willing to trespass, by pass and intrude on humans lives for the sake of research and advancement. Learning how they would just take black people off the streets and use them as guinea pigs was deplorable. This is a sad thing to read:

pg. 168 Sitting in Lawrence's living room, Sonny and Bobbette yelled back and forth for nearly an hour about Hopkins snatching black people. Eventually, Sonny leaned back in his chair and said, "John Hopkins didn't give us information about anything. That was the bad part. Not the sad part, but the bad part, cause I don't know if they didn't give us information because they was making money out of it, or if they was just wanting to keep us in the dark about it. I think they made money out of it, cause they were selling her cells all over the world and shipping them for dollars." "Hopkins say they gave them cells away," Lawrence yelled, "but they made millions! It's not fair! She's the most important person in the world and her family living in poverty. If our mother so important to science, why can't we get health insurance?"

pg. 169 "Everybody knew black people were disappearing cause Hopkins was experimenting on them!" she yelled. "I believe a lot of it was true." "Probably so," Sonny said. "A lot might a been myth too. You never know. But one thing we do know, them cells about my mother ain't no myth." Day thumped his cane again. "You know what is a myth?" Bobbette snapped from the recliner. "Everybody always saying Henrietta Lacks donated those cells. She didn't donate nothing. They took them and didn't ask." She inhaled a deep breath to calm herself. "What really would upset Henrietta is the fact that Dr. Gey never told the family anything__we didn't know nothing about those cells and he didn't care. That just rubbed us the wrong way. I just kept asking everybody, "Why didn't they say anything to the family?" They knew how to contact us! If Dr. Gey wasn't dead, I think I would have killed him myself."

In my personal opinion which doesn't count to a hell a beans, there just is no justification for what John Hopkins and Dr. Gey did to this entire family. If asked and explained, I believe Henrietta Lacks would have gladly allowed them to have her tissue for research to save others.

PatH · « **Reply #140 on:** October 17, 2016, 11:35:28 AM »

Annie, in answer to your question, in a quick search I couldn't find any reference to HeLa cells being important to diabetes research. I also asked an NIH buddy who followed these things more closely than I, and he didn't know of anything.

bellamarie · « **Reply #141 on:** October 17, 2016, 11:50:36 AM »

PatH., I think it was me who was wondering about the HeLa cells helping diabetes. Thank you for taking the time to try to find the answer. It seems a mystery as to why Chris' count was at twenty when she entered the er in a diabetic coma. It was not as if she was not taking her daily counts, and medication. A mystery that will most likely not be answered.

JoanK., Thank you for your thoughts. The funeral was on Saturday. It was difficult to watch a mother and father go through losing their brilliant, beautiful young daughter, but they are a very faith filled family, so know they will draw their strength from their faith.

PatH · « **Reply #142 on:** October 17, 2016, 12:31:45 PM »

There's a lot to get indignant about in this book. The overall treatment of patients, especially Blacks, seems awful to us now.

What about Dr. Gey? How much did he do wrong? I don't blame him for not making sure Henrietta was asked for her cells, or telling her right away that he was using them. He was working with the hospital rules, and her sample was one of many that were given him by the doctors treating cancer. He had no way of knowing for a long time that they would be important. But surely when it became obvious how very important they were, he should then have told the family. Anyone would have been happy to know that someone they loved had done something so important.

The business of getting mad at other people using his cells after he had freely distributed them is actually very funny once you notice what's really going on. He isn't mad because others used the cells, he's mad because he got scooped.

Gey was awful about writing up his work for publication; eventually, Margaret started writing it up for him. This is a common problem with scientists. The writing is picky and time-consuming, and often leads to the need to do a few minor experiments to tie up loose ends, when they could be doing this interesting new thing they thought of. Plus some scientists don't have good writing skills.

Gey had done a lot of research he hadn't published yet, and some other scientists did similar experiments and published them first, so Gey didn't get credit.

PatH · « **Reply #143 on:** October 17, 2016, 12:32:59 PM »

Bellamarie, that is sad and painful. I'm glad her family has strong faith.

bellamarie · « **Reply #144 on:** October 17, 2016, 01:03:21 PM »

PatH., I agree with you on all counts about Dr. Gey. I think some scientists are so busy with their work the last thing they want to do is write about it, even though it is a must for the obvious reasons.

It sure would be nice to chat with this author and hear how she felt sitting with the Lacks family. I wonder if she did anything in a financial way to help the Lacks once her book came out? I am so drawn to them, and how much help they needed and nothing was given to them, yet others made billions of dollars from Henrietta's cells. I know that these cells most important part was in saving lives, but gosh what would it hurt to help this family in poverty and suffering with illnesses of their own. Just my human side wishing more could have been done for the family.

PatH · « **Reply #145 on:** October 17, 2016, 02:49:35 PM »

I totally agree. Of course, in a perfect world, all families would get health care and help with their problems, but it seems very lopsided that a family that produced so much benefit for mankind couldn't reap even a tiny bit for themselves.

ANNIE · « **Reply #146 on:** October 17, 2016, 07:26:51 PM »

Yes, Bella, the author felt the same way you do and so she set up a trust so Henrietta's grandchildren could go to college. I believe the money was from the author's profit made from this book.
Our weekend was a circus here in downtown Gahanna! After helping to move a 6 ft high robot into our van, my DH discovered he couldn't move his left leg. Called 911 and EMT's got him to the ER promptly at 9:30 Saturday night, where the docs could not find anything wrong with him but advised his PC to have a spinal CT done later this week! And they sent him home at 2:30pm on Sunday. In the middle of the rush, my DIL and I discovered (at 1am on Sunday) that we had locked the house so well that we had left all the house keys plus the garage door opener, inside the house. We had to wait until morning to call a locksmith to get in! (2 hours and $100 later).
So my DH came about 3:30pm yesterday using a walker but feeling just fine! Today he is up and doing quite well! Me? I'm sitting on my screened in porch resting my body and mind!😋😋💕💕😋

PatH · « **Reply #147 on:** October 17, 2016, 08:00:23 PM »

What a weekend! I've developed a protective reflex of checking for my keys before closing the door, but it's bound to slip someday.

6 foot high robot?

PatH · « **Reply #148 on:** October 18, 2016, 12:01:19 PM »

Which of the two stories, scientific developments and the Lacks family, do you find more interesting? Why? What are some important points in each story?

ANNIE · « **Reply #149 on:** October 18, 2016, 12:10:34 PM »

Yes, he is 6 feet high but can be broken into 4 separate pieces so we can get him in our van. He has been lots of places, like the Dr Who 50th Convention in 2014 in Atlanta! Saturday night he was at the high school marching band Halloween party in a local park. Our youngest grandson asked to take him. Said they had a blast! I will attempt to put a pic of him here but if I fail, I will email a pic to you!

Expect a picture or even two!😢💕😢 by email! Let me know if they arrive!

ANNIE · « **Reply #150 on:** October 18, 2016, 12:13:12 PM »

i liked both stories as I learned quite a lot of history from both of them.

bellamarie · « **Reply #151 on:** October 18, 2016, 01:57:16 PM »

Annie, Your 6 ft robot sounds interesting. I am giggling just imagining trying to break him down and travel with him.

PatH., Because I am drawn more to the humanistic side of stories, I enjoyed reading about the Lacks family. I could actually get a feel of sitting in the living room with all of them, and the author. She wrote it so descriptive that I could actually picture the house, the kitchen, the burnt pork chop, and the family members shouting back and forth to Rebecca, and each other. She humanized them and made them real people with real feelings and concerns. The scientific developments were interesting, but upset me a bit.

Ella Gibbons · « **Reply #152 on:** October 18, 2016, 06:45:31 PM »

Bell finds the "family' more interesting than the scientific experiments. What do the rest of you think?

I would love a teacher (or the author) to be with us, a blackboard set up, a few petri dishes to put cell culture in and I WANT IT ALL EXPLAINED. I like the science of it, but when I read it and then came back day later it is gone from my memory.

One thing I do remember that astounds me is that all cells growing in culture eventually die or they become cancerous. You can't gat away from cancer, it sneaks up in all kinds of ways and cancer cells grow more rapidly than others..

There is so much more here to learn - Chapter 18 is full of different experiments. I doubt the "family" would want to hear of some of them, such as fusing HELA cells with mouse cells and with chicken cells. And they discovered "cell sex." Read if for yourself (pg.141)

I would like to have been a scientist I think and learn new things constantly about he human body; although I know the work is tedious and years and years of experimentation may make no new results

Still, think of the hope!

Bell, I agree the family should have been somehow noted, but at the time the scientists didn't think anything of it, they were using their own bodies, families and friends, tissues for experimentation also

Ella Gibbons · « **Reply #153 on:** October 18, 2016, 07:00:00 PM »

PAT, would you explain in simple terms the HELA BOMB, PLEASE.

bellamarie · « **Reply #154 on:** October 18, 2016, 08:29:21 PM »

I'm not aware the scientists were using their friends, family and own bodies for experimentation. I think if I remember correctly without going back, that only Dr. Gey after being diagnosed wanted to use his own tissue for research. They were pulling blacks off the streets and using black prisoners. I personally feel they thought, the end justifies the means.

Ella Gibbons · « **Reply #155 on:** October 19, 2016, 10:13:38 AM »

Page 139: In recent years, using tissue samples from themselves, their families, and their patients, scientists had grown cells of all kinds---------..............

Where is everyone in the book? I'm on Chapter 20, the Hela Bomb. Am I going too fast, too slow?

PatH · « **Reply #156 on:** October 19, 2016, 10:54:12 AM »

Scientists often experiment on themselves in minor ways, and here we see instances of them using tissue samples from themselves or family members. I'm too short of time to track them down, but one very amusing example is Leonard Hayflick. His cell culture had been grown from bits of the amniotic sac taken from his newborn daughter, and when he learned the cultured cells contained a genetic marker found only in Blacks, he called his wife to be reassured that he really was the father.

However, at least in this book, we don't see any scientists except the dying Gey doing risky experiments on themselves.

bellamarie · « **Reply #157 on:** October 19, 2016, 11:05:29 AM »

Thank you Ella for refreshing my memory. I was referring specifically to the time in the early 1950's when Henrietta's tissue was used without her or her family's position. By the 1960s they had begun using tissue samples from themselves, their families, and their patients,

It did not specify, but I am hoping they were now informing these people and getting their permission. But nothing would surprise me after reading what they were doing in the 50s.

PatH., That was kind of funny reading about Hayflick thinking because there was a genetic marker only blacks had, found in his daughter's cells, he assume she was not his child.

In the next paragraph it was troubling to read: "Despite the importance of this research, many scientists seemed cavalier about their cultures. Few kept clear records of which cells grew from which donors, and many mislabeled their cultures, if they labeled them at all. For scientists doing research that wasn't cell-specific, like investigating the effects of radiation on DNA, not knowing what kind of cell they were working on might not affect the outcome of their research. But if cells were contaminated or mislabeled in research that was cell-specific__as much research was__ the results would be worthless. Regardless, the culturists who called the meeting said, precision was essential in science, and researchers should know what cells they were using, and whether they were contaminated."

This was not only causing contamination, but costing millions of wasted dollars in research and time.

PatH · « **Reply #158 on:** October 19, 2016, 11:27:58 AM »

The HeLa bomb: this really was a bombshell, and there were two issues concerning the cause (contamination, and the incredible vigor of HeLa cells), and one concerning the implications (a whole lot of experiments turned out to be worthless).

Contamination: people were still learning the best ways to grow cells, and they were still discovering all the picky precautions needed to keep contaminants out. Think of it as trying to keep tiny dust motes out of something. You remove some of your sample with a hypodermic needle, and when you pull the needle out a tiny bit of the solution goes into the air as an aerosol. You get a minute drop on your lab coat. It dries, floats off, and lands on your lab bench. You put a clean pipette down on the supposedly clean bench, pick it up, and use it to transfer your cells, not realizing you've added a call. Now people take incredible precautions against contamination, using elaborate sterile hoods--kind of big boxes in which you do your experiments, with air flow systems using filtered air, and a whole bunch of very picky techniques to keep things clean.

The vigor of HeLa cells: these cells grow so much more vigorously than normal cells that a single one can take over a culture, eventually displacing the normal cells. A normal cell landing in your culture might die, but a HeLa cell won't. So contamination is almost certain to occur eventually.

The implications: if you were doing a general experiment, where the kind of cell didn't matter, your experiment would still be good. But if you were trying to find out what liver cells did, and you really had HeLa cells, everything you thought you had learned didn't tell you a thing about liver cells. And if you thought you were seeing normal cells turn cancerous, what you really saw was normal cells being replaced by HeLa cells.

So a whole lot of people weren't working on what they thought they were, and their experiments were no good. Some people lost years of work. I can remember the horror that spread through the biomedical research community when the news broke.

PatH · « **Reply #159 on:** October 19, 2016, 11:29:57 AM »

Bellamarie, you posted while I was writing, and said much the same thing.

News:

Author Topic: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot ~ Oct Book Club Online (Read 31646 times)