The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
When did Henrietta and Day get married and where?
April 10th, 1941 at their preacher's house
Christoph Lengauer
cancer researcher at Johns Hopkins who helped develop FISH, a technique used to detect and identify DNA sequences, and who reached out to members of the Lacks family
Chester Southam
cancer researcher who conducted unethical experiments to see whether or not HeLa could "infect" people with cancer
Where was Henrietta born?
Roanoke, Virginia
Michael Rogers
Rolling Stone reporter who wrote an article about the Lacks family in 1976. He was the first journalist to contact the Lackses
1954
The pseudonym "Helen Lane" first appears in print as the source of HeLa cells. Chester Southam begins to conduct experiments without patient consent to see whether or not injections of HeLa cells could cause cancer.
What does the nucleus of a cell do?
it holds all the genetic information that makes you who you are
What has Henrietta's cells been used to study?
lactose digestion, S.T.D.s, appendicitis, human longevity, mosquito mating, and the negative cellular effects of working in sewers
How old was Henrietta when she had her first baby?
14 years old
When was George Gey born?
1899
When did Henrietta lacks die?
1955
What are carcinomas?
most cervical cancers are this, which grow from the epithelial cells that cover the cervix and protect its surface
Roland Pattillo
professor of gynecology at Morehouse School of Medicine who was one of George Gey's only African-American students. He organizes a yearly HeLa conference at Morehouse in Henrietta's honor.
What is HeLa?
the code name given to the world's first immortal human cells that were cut from Henrietta Lacks' cervix months before she died
Stanley Gartler
the geneticist who dropped the "HeLa bomb" when he proposed that many of the most commonly used cell cultures had been contaminated by HeLa
Walter Nelson-Rees
the geneticist who tracked and published the names of cell lines contaminated with HeLa without first warning the researchers he exposed. he became known as a vigilante
Susan Hsu
the postdoctoral student in Victor McKusick's lab who was assigned to make contact with the Lackses and request samples from them for genetic testing without informed consent
What is mitosis?
the process of cell division that makes it possible for embryos to grow into babies and for our bodies to create new cells to heal wounds or replenish blood we lost
What was Henrietta's grandmother's name?
Chloe Lacks
How many years apart are Elsie and Lawrence?
4 years
How many children did Henrietta have?
5
How many siblings did Henrietta have growing up?
9
1912
Alexis Carrel claims to have successfully grown "immortal" chicken-heart cells
When was Henrietta Lacks born?
August 1st, 1920
Where did Fred and several other cousins go work at during the war?
Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point steel mill
How did Henrietta Lacks die?
Cervical cancer
What cousin of hers also lived with her grandfather?
David Lacks but everyone called him Day
Who was the father to Henrietta's children?
David lacks or Day
Alfred Jr.
Deborah and Cheetah's firstborn child and Little Alfred's father
LaTonya
Deborah and Cheetah's second child; Davon's mother
Alfred "Cheetah" Carter
Deborah's first husband. The marriage was abusive and ended in divorce
"Little Alfred"
Deborah's grandson
Davon Meade
Deborah's grandson who often lived with and took care of her
Reverend James Pullum
Deborah's second ex-husband, a former steel-mill worker who became a preacher
Alex Carrel
French surgeon and Nobel Prize recipient who claimed to have cultured "immortal" chicken-heart cells
Ethel
Galen's wife, an abusive caregiver to Henrietta's three youngest children
1951
George Gey successfully cultures the first immortal human cell line using cells from Henrietta's cervix. it is given the name HeLa after the first to initials of Henrietta's first and last name. Henrietta Lacks dies of an unusually aggressive strain of cervical cancer.
Mary Kubicek
George Gey's lab assistant who cultured HeLa cells for the first time
Margaret Gey
George Gey's wife and research assistant . She was trained as a surgical nurse
Gary Lacks
Gladys's son and Deborah's cousin. A lay preacher, he performed a faith healing on Deborah
1965
HeLa cells are focused with mouse cells, creating the first animal-human hybrid cells. The Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York finds Southam and a colleague guilty of unprofessional conduct and calls for stricter guidelines regarding human research subjects and informed consent.
1953
HeLa cells become the first cells ever cloned.
1952
HeLa cells become the first living cells shipped via postal mail. The Tuskegee Institute opens the first "HeLa factory", supplying cells to laboratories and researchers and operating as a nonprofit. Within a few years, a company named Microbiological Associates would begin selling HeLa for profit. Scientists use HeLa cells to help develop the polio vaccine.
1920
Henrietta Lacks is born in Roanoke, Virginia
Zakariyya Bari Abdul Rahman (born Joe Lacks)
Henrietta and Day's fifth child. Henrietta was diagnosed with cervical cancer shortly after his birth
Lawrence Lacks
Henrietta and Day's first born child
Deborah "Dale" Lacks
Henrietta and Day's fourth child
Tommy Lacks
Henrietta and Day's grandfather who raised both of them
David Jr. "Sonny" Lacks
Henrietta and Day's third child
Loretta Pleasant
Henrietta's birth name
Margaret Sturdivant
Henrietta's cousin and confidante. Henrietta went to her house after radiation treatments at Johns Hopkins hospital
"Crazy Joe" Grinnan
Henrietta's cousin who competed unsuccessfully with Day for her affection
Fred Garret
Henrietta's cousin who convinced Day and Henrietta to move to Turner Station
Cliff Garret
Henrietta's cousin. As children, they worked the tobacco fields togther
Galen
Henrietta's cousin. He and his wife, Ethel, moved in with Day after Henrietta's death to help take care of the children
Johnny Pleasant
Henrietta's father, who left his ten children when their mother died
Howard Jones
Henrietta's gynecologist at Johns Hopkins
David "Day" Lacks
Henrietta's husband and cousin
Eliza Lacks Pleasant
Henrietta's mother. She died when Henrietta was only four years old
Elsie Lacks (born Lucile Elsie Pleasant)
Henrietta's second born and eldest daughter. She was institutionalized due to epilepsy and died at the age of 15.
Who did not want for Henrietta to marry Day?
Henrietta's sister, Gladys
Gladys Lacks
Henrietta's sister, who disapproved of Henrietta's marriage to Day
Albert Lacks
Henrietta's white great-grandfather. He had five children by a former slave named Maria and left part of the Lacks plantation with them. This section became known as "Lacks Town"
Where did Henrietta live when her mother, Eliza Pleasant, died?
Her father, Johnny Pleasant, brought her and her siblings to Clover, Virginia, where his family farmed tobacco fields. Relatives divided up the 10 kids. Henrietta ended up living with her grandfather, Tommy Lacks.
How do people get cancer?
If just one enzyme misfires, or one wrong protein activation can give you cancer. Mitosis is how it spreads throughout your body.
1889
Johns Hopkins Hospital is founded
Where did Henrietta go to when she complained about a knot inside of her?
Johns Hopkins gynecology clinic
What was Henrietta's first baby's name?
Lawrence Lacks
Bobette Lacks
Lawrence's wife. She helped raise Lawrence's siblings after Henrietta's death, and advocated for them when she discovered they were being abused
What happened to Henrietta's second child?
Lucile Elsie Lacks hit her head on the floor when she was less than one day old. Everyone says that is why her mind was left like an infant's.
Sadie Sturdivant
Margaret's sister, Henrietta's cousin and confidante, she supported Henrietta during her illness. She and Henrietta sometimes sneaked out to go dancing
Leonard Hayflick
Microbiologist who proved that normal cells die when they've doubled about fifty times. This is known as the Hayflick limit
Did Henrietta and Day finish school? What grade did they top at?
No, Henrietta went to school until 6th grade while Day only went until 4th grade
1947
The Nuremburg Code, a set of ethical standards for human experimentation, is produced as the result of a trial against several Nazi doctors who conducted experiments on prisoners during World War 2
1957
The term "informed consent" first appears in court documents.
Where did many blacks flock to during the "great migration" ?
Turner Station during the war
When did Henrietta first start complaining about a knot?
a couple weeks after she gave birth to her daughter Deborah
Ted Slavin
a hemophiliac whose doctor told him his cells were valuable. Slavin founded Essential Biologicals, a company that sold his cells, and later cells from other people so individuals could profit from their own biological materials
What is radium?
a white radioactive metal that glows and eerie blue, it destroys any cells it encounters, it causes mutations that can turn into cancer, it can burn the skin off of a person's body, but it also kills cancer cells
Who is TeLinde and what did he do?
also called Uncle Dick, he pioneered the use of estrogen for treating some symptoms of menopause and made early discoveries about endometriosis
Sir Lord Keenan Kester Cofield
attempted to sue Johns Hopkins and the Lacks family
Michael Gold
author of A Conspiracy of Cells. He published details from Henrietta's medical records and autopsy report without permission from the Lacks family
John Moore
cancer patient who unsuccessfully sued his doctor and the regents of the University of California over the use of his cells to create the Mo cell line
What is the biggest conflict for cell culture?
contamination, microorganisms and bacteria could easily find their way into cultures from unwashed hands, their breath, dust particles floating through the air and destroy the cells
Emanuel Mandel
director of the medicine at the Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital (JCDH) who partnered with Chester Southam in unethical experiemtents
Victor McKusick
geneticist at Johns Hopkins who conducted research on samples taken from Henrietta's children without informed consent to learn more about HeLa cells
How did Crazy Joe react to Henrietta and Day's engagement?
he stabbed himself in the chest with a pocketknife while drunk
Dr. George Gey
head of tissue-culture research at Johns Hopkins. He developed the techniques used to grow HeLa cells from Henrietta's cancer tissue in his lab
What happened to Henrietta's cells?
her cells were sent up in the first space missions to see what would happen to human cells in zero gravity
What sicknesses did HeLa help create medications for?
herpes, leukemia, influenza, hemophilia, Parkinson's disease
About how many cells are in our bodies?
hundred trillion
Why was Margaret extremely upset when Minnie left a smudge on one of the glasses?
if anything was contaminated it would destroy the cells that she was trying to study
Who was Crazy Joe?
one of Henrietta's cousins who was madly in love with her
Richard Wesley TeLinde
one of the top cervical cancer experts in the country at the time of Henrietta's diagnosis. His research involved taking tissue samples from Henrietta and other cervical cancer patients at Johns Hopkins
What were some of the most important advances in medicine from HeLa?
polio vaccine, chemotherapy, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization
Courtney "Mama" Speed
resident of Turner Station and owner of Speed's Grocery. She organized an effort to build a Henrietta Lacks museum
What was Gladys reason for not supporting their marriage?
she always said that Henrietta could do better and that she was too good for him
How old where Henrietta and Day when the got married?
she was 20 and he was 25
What are invasive/ noninvasive carcinomas?
these have penetrated the surface of the cervix while noninvasive havent
What do cells make up in the human body?
tissues including muscles, bones, and blood which in turn make up our organs
