OppressionFebruary 1951

Henrietta Lacks and the HeLa cells

Doctors take Henrietta Lacks's cells without consent; the immortal "HeLa" line transforms medicine while her family is left unrecognized and uncompensated for decades.

Medical Racism

Key figures

Henrietta Lacks · Subject

Resources

Books·1

Book

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Rebecca Skloot

The definitive book on Lacks, her family, and the HeLa cell line.

Websites·2

Website· Primary

The Legacy of Henrietta Lacks

Johns Hopkins Medicine

Johns Hopkins''s official account of the 1951 HeLa cells taken without consent.

Website

HeLa Cells: A Lasting Contribution to Biomedical Research

National Institutes of Health

NIH resource on the HeLa cell line and the legacy of Henrietta Lacks.

The web

Connections to other moments, systems, and investigations — the links rarely drawn together.

part of·Thread
Medical Racism
Cells taken without consent that built a medical industry.

Where to go next

part of

Medical Racism

Cells taken without consent that built a medical industry.