HeLa Cells and Laws Protecting Patient Tissue Samples
Research the impact Henrietta Lacks has had on science. Provide different and more in depth information than the video and article from class did.
OR
What laws exist to protect your cells being used for research when you provide a tissue or blood sample? What are some of the law suits that are dealing with this legal matter? Is your tissue "yours" after it is outside your body?
It is relatively recent that people are finding more about Henrietta Lacks and what she unknowingly and unwillingly contributed to the medical field. Something that is more common than her own name is the name given to her cells, HeLa cells. These are the first immortal cells to be “industrialized”, being sold for research [N/A, August 13th, 2013] 1. They are so popular in the scientific field because they are easy to work with, reproduce quickly, and are relatively cheap. These cells are so particularly used that they have been mentioned in over 60,000 research publications [Heidelberg, May 11 2013] 3. Despite being cells that were retrieved from a malignant tumor, HeLa cells still share many basic characteristics with normal cells. Recently, two Nobel prizes were given to research in which HeLa cells played an important rule in discovering the link between human papillomavirus and cervical cancer (Harald zur Hausen in 2008 and Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider, and Jack Szostak in 2011).
ReplyDeleteHeLa cells have also helped scientist discover the components that make up RNA and the process of cell division, among hundreds of other discoveries crucial for todays medical field [Heidelberg, May 11 2013] 3. Scientists have spent decades studying the HeLa cell line sequence. We now know that, as cancer is a disease of the genome, the DNA of a cancer cell is different to that of a healthy somatic patient cell. This means that the cells contains genetic variations originated from the donor’s genome. Genetic variation may occur not only in Henrietta’s body but also in a lab, making it harder to explain this extraordinary event [Heidelberg, May 11 2013] 3. This has recently called the attention of the media making people right reports and books about Henrietta Lacks. Her family has collaborated with the book, describing their pride but also the anger they felt when told about the cells that were removed. This book spent 125 weeks on the New York Times bestseller. It is being adapted for a movie that will be co-produced by Oprah Winfrey [Tom McCarthy, Wednesday 7, Aug 2013 23.26 BST] 2.
Sources:
1. "Center for Individualized Medicine." The Impact of Henrietta Lacks on Genomic Research « Individualized Medicine Blog. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2013.
2. "Henrietta Lacks Formally Recognised as Source of HeLa Research Cells." The Guardian. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2013.
3. "Press Release 2013." Havoc in Biology's Most-used Human Cell Line. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2013.
Until very recently, only few people knew the name Henrietta Lacks, or what she has contributed to science. HeLa cells have provided us the development of many achievements in medicine that today we all take for granted. Most biomedical science researchers know about, and even regularly use, HeLa cells. At the beginning of 2013, a group of German researchers had successfully completed the sequencing of the HeLa cell genome. They had placed this information in a public database and this data has become very important for understanding of how various tumor types arise and cancer progress (1).
ReplyDeleteHenrietta Lacks died 62 years ago, at the age of 31of cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Her tumor cells had been removed from her body. HeLa cells been used for research all around the world but Henrietta never gave permission for research nor had her family. In an agreement announced with national institutes of Health, Henrietta’s family was granted a limited say over some of the research (2).
The scientist who cultured HeLa cells made tons of money as a result of the profit gained from selling HeLa cells. These cells were eventually replicated in bulk, shipped out across the country and the world for use in over 60,000 different studies. in medical research during the 1950s, Hela cells became great need for the establishing guide lines in order to protect the patients right and to have a protocol in obtaining proper consents from patients involved in a any sort of scientific study.(3)
Sources:
(1) http://individualizedmedicineblog.mayoclinic.org/discussion/the-impact-of-henrietta-lacks-on-genomic-research/The Impact of Henrietta Lacks on Genomic Research/ August 13th, 2013 by Center for Individualized Medicine
(2) http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/science/july-dec13/dna_08-08.html/Henrietta Lacks’ Impact on Research Now Extends to Patient Consent/Aug 8, 2013 by PBS News Hour
(3) http://icbbioethics.com/journals.php?entry=115/The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks/nernet Journal of Catholic Bioethics, 6, (1), Spring 2011
Henrietta Lacks was a tobacco farmer with five kids. When she was thirty she got cervical cancer, which she died for. Without her knowing the doctor who examined her at the John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and sent it to the science department, which was trying to experiment on cells, but they were never able to keep them alive. Miraculously, Henrietta Lacks’ cells never died.
ReplyDeleteHeLa cells, named after Henrietta Lacks, have enormously helped science. HeLa cells are the first immortal human cells to ever be grown in a lab. Some major contributes to science were the following:
1. They were crucial for the development of the polio vaccine
2. They were sent to space to see how cells would react to zero gravity;
3. They have been used for cloning
4. Gene mapping
5. And Vitro Fertilization
[Sarah Zielinski, January 22, 2010]1
Most recent research was that “a group of German researchers had successfully completed the sequencing of the HeLa cell genome, and had placed this information in a publicly accessible database. This data has become critical to our understanding of how various tumor types arise and cancers progress.” [Jennifer McCormick, Center for Individualized Medicine, August 13th 2013]2
Bibliography
1. Henrietta Lacks’ “Immortal” Cells: January 22nd 2010: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Henrietta-Lacks-Immortal-Cells.html
2. The Impact of Henrietta Lacks in Genomic Research: August 13th,2013: http://individualizedmedicineblog.mayoclinic.org/discussion/the-impact-of-henrietta-lacks-on-genomic-research
Variation of Down syndrome
ReplyDeleteIn humans, egg cells and sperm cells have 23 chromosomes each. Your cells have 46 chromosomes, 23 from your mother and 23 from your father. Down syndrome, also known as Trisomy 21, is usually caused by an extra chromosome, chromosome 21. This extra chromosome causes problems with the way the brain and body develop. Down syndrome is known to be one of the most common birth defects. The symptoms for this syndrome can vary from person to person, and can be from mild to severe. Some of the symptoms noticed on children with Down syndrome are that the head may be smaller and shaped differently, flattened nose, inner core of the eye may be rounded instead of pointed, among other symptoms.
There are three variations of Down syndrome: Trisomy 21, Mosaic Down syndrome, and Translocation Down syndrome.
About 90% of Down syndrome cases are caused by Trisomy 21. What causes this Down syndrome is the cell division during the development of the sperm cell or the egg cell. When there is abnormal cell division a sperm or an egg cell may have an extra copy of chromosome 21. A child born with this type of Down syndrome will have three chromosomes 21 in his genes (two of these come from the mother and the father and the extra chromosome can come from either one), an extra chromosome 21 copy, in all of the child’s cells.
Mosaic Down syndrome is a rare form of Down syndrome. Children with this type of Down syndrome will have an extra copy of chromosome 21, but unlike Trisomy 21, the extra chromosome will appear in only some of his or her cells. This is usually caused by abnormal cell division after fertilization has occurred.
There is one case of Down syndrome that is very rare and uncommon, about 4% of children with Down syndrome have this type of the syndrome. The Translocation Down syndrome occurs when a part of chromosome 21 attaches to another chromosome. This is called a translocation, and therefore this type of the syndrome is called “Translocation Down syndrome”. Children born with Translocation Down syndrome have the two copies of the chromosome 21, but there is also some of that chromosome attached (or translocated) on to another chromosome.
Translocation Down syndrome is the only one out of the three other types of syndrome previously mentioned that can be inherited. Out of the 4% of the children with this syndrome only half of them inherit it from one of their parents. When it is inherited, either the mother or the father had rearranged genetic material (a rearranged chromosome 21), yet there was not an extra chromosome, the carrier (in this case the parents) has no symptoms of Down syndrome. The chances of passing the Translocation Down syndrome varies. If it is inherited by the father there is a 3% chance of him passing on the translocation; if the syndrome is inherited form the mother, there is a chance between a 10% and a 15% for her to pass on the Translocation Down syndrome.
Sources:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/down-syndrome/DS00182/DSECTION=causes
http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/down-syndrome
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/medical/IM02633