[conspire] Henrietta Lacks

[Ruben Safir]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/henrietta-lacks-and-her-remarkable-cells-will-finally-see-some-payback-11596295285?mod=hp_lead_pos2

WSJ News Exclusive | Henrietta Lacks and Her Remarkable Cells Will
Finally See Some Payback
Amy Dockser Marcus
11-14 minutes

In 1951, scientists took a Black woman’s cancer cells without her
consent. The cells of Henrietta Lacks proved invaluable for research,
and labs and companies gained financially from using them for decades,
with nothing for her or her family.

Now, two entities that benefited say they are giving back.

Abcam ABC -0.08% PLC, a 1,400-person life-sciences company with
headquarters in the U.K., is making a gift to the Henrietta Lacks
Foundation to support higher-education scholarships in science,
technology, engineering and mathematics for descendants of Ms. Lacks.
The foundation and company aren’t disclosing the amount of the gift.

The lab of Samara Reck-Peterson, an investigator at the Howard Hughes
Medical Institute and professor of cellular and molecular medicine and
of biological sciences at the University of California San Diego, said
it utilizes the cells, commonly known as HeLa cells after Ms. Lacks, to
study and ask research questions. The lab will donate $100 to the
foundation for each of the four cell lines that lab members created in
the past by making changes to the HeLa cells, and for any cell lines
they make in the future.

“This is a small part, but we want to encourage other labs to do
something similar,” Dr. Reck-Peterson said. If every lab that uses the
cells donated money, she added, it could have a sizable impact.

A picture of HeLa cells, which have contributed to medical breakthroughs
such as the polio and HPV vaccines.
Photo: Tom Deerinck

“The symbolism of the donations is powerful,” said Blair Kelley,
associate professor of history at North Carolina State University and a
member of the board of the Henrietta Lacks Foundation. “A company and a
research institution, two of the most important spaces that have
benefited from the HeLa lines, are acknowledging what happened and what
should be made right.”

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