The Way of all Flesh
Henrietta Lacks was a woman who died in 1951 of cervical cancer. Just before her death, some of the tissue was taken by a researcher without her knowledge for experimentation. Unbeknownst to him, this cell line, called HeLa, was immortal, and has since been used in all forms of medical research, to being sent into space.
The linky is to the 1997 Adam Curtis documentary on this rather odd story of the woman, or rather, her cancer, that will not die. Rather thoughtful film-making if you've an hour to spare.
(, Fri 16 Jul 2010, 21:59, Reply)
I've already seen this
And it is quite a bit out of date, scientifically. But that doesn't stop it being a cracking documentary. HeLa cells have resulted in countless innovations and the story behind them should remind people of the power of mutation -much as this lady has been the progenitor of a new form of life (slight exaggeration) there are individuals out there who are immune to diseases like AIDS purely through genetic versatility. Worth pondering. There are likely to be people alive right now who hold the cure to such nightmares purely by chance....
(, Fri 16 Jul 2010, 22:49, Reply)
A book about Henrietta came out fairly recently...
I interviewed the author, Rebecca Skloot, a few weeks back...
And posted a link to the interview here. it's a fascinating story, and an excellent book.
HeLa cells actually became quite a problem, contaminating a number of other cell lines. In order to genetically disentangle them, some researchers needed a sample from her children. They contacted her husband, who had very little education, and explained why.
Sadly, having never heard of cells in a biological context, he thought they were saying "We have your wife in a cell, and have been experimenting on her for 14 years, we now need to test your children for the cancer that killed her."
To this day, despite Henrietta's cells giving rise to countless medical breakthroughs, and making lots of money for various folks,Henrietta's family still can't afford medical insurance.
The book, "the immortal life of Henrietta Lacks" does an excellent job of mixing the science with the human story, and is well worth a read.
(
TheAlmightyBeev, Fri 16 Jul 2010, 23:18,
Reply)
this is a great documentary.
the mayfair set is my favourite adam curtis documentary
video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3281665019508672875#
(, Fri 16 Jul 2010, 23:22, Reply)
