The Stolen Cells and Silent Legacy of Henrietta Lacks

When Henrietta Lacks discovered a tumor inside of her in 1951, she turned to Johns Hopkins Medical Center for help. They examined her cells and discovered two things: First, she had cervical cancer. And second, her cells, for reasons we still can't explain, multiplied at astonishing rates, allowing doctors and pharmaceutical companies to use them to conduct all sorts of valuable research. Without Lacks knowledge or consent, her cells have been used to do amazing things, like create vaccinations for polio and HPV. But her case is most noteworthy for the ethical questions it forced us to face regarding medical consent, particularly within marginalized communities.

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