The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

by Rebecca Skloot

  PART TWO: DEATH

  Chapter 12: The Storm

  For a discussion of the history of court decisions and rights regarding autopsies, see Subjected to Science, by Susan Lederer.

  Chapter 13: The HeLa Factory

  For further reading on the history of the polio vaccine, see The Virus and the Vaccine, by Debbie Bookchin and Jim Shumacher; Polio: An American Story, by David M. Oshinski; Splendid Solution: Jonas Salk and the Conquest of Polio, by Jeffrey Kluger; and The Cutter Incident: How America’s First Polio Vaccine Led to the Growing Crisis in Vaccines, by Paul Offit.

  Details of the initial growth of poliovirus using HeLa cells, and the subsequent development of shipping methods, is documented in letters housed at the AMCMA and the March of Dimes Archives, as well as in J. Syverton, W. Scherer, and G. O. Gey, “Studies on the Propagation in Vitro of Poliomyelitis Virus,” Journal of Experimental Medicine 97, no. 5 (May 1, 1953).

  The history of the HeLa mass production facilities at Tuskegee is documented in letters, expense reports, and other documents at the March of Dimes Archives. For a comprehensive overview, see Russell W. Brown and James H. M. Henderson, “The Mass Production and Distribution of HeLa Cells at the Tuskegee Institute, 1953–55,” Journal of the History of Medicine 38 (1983).

  A detailed history of many scientific advances that followed the growth of HeLa can be found in letters and other papers in the AMCA and TCAA. The book Culturing Life: How Cells Became Technologies, by Han nah Lan decker, provides a comprehensive overview. Many of the scientific papers referred to in this chapter are collected in Readings in Mammalian Cell Culture, edited by Robert Pollack, including H. Eagle, “Nutrition Needs of Mammalian Cells in Tissue Culture,” Science 122 (1955): 501–4; T T. Puck and P. I. Marcus, “A Rapid Method for Viable Cell Titration and Clone Production with HeLa Cells in Tissue Culture: The Use of X-irradiated Cells to Study Conditioning Factors,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 41 (1955); J. H. Tjio and A. Levan, “The Chromosome Number of Man,” Cytogenics 42 (January 26, 1956). See also M. J. Kottler, “From 48 to 46: Cytological Technique, Preconception, and the Counting of Human Chromosomes,” Bulletin of the History of Medicine 48, no. 4 (1974); H. E. Swim, “Microbiological Aspects of Tissue Culture,” Annual Review of Microbiology 13 (1959); J. Craigie, “Survival and Preservation of Tumors in the Frozen State,” Advanced Cancer Research 2 (1954); W. Scherer and A. Hoo gasian, “Preservation at Subzero Temperatures of Mouse Fibroblasts (Strain L) and Human Epithelial Cells (Strain HeLa),” Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine 87, no. 2 (1954); T. C. Hsu, “Mammalian Chromosomes in Vitro: The Karyotype of Man,” Journal of Heredity 43 (1952); and D. Pearlman, “Value of Mammalian Cell Culture as Biochemical Tool,” Science 160 (April 1969); and N. P. Salzman, “Animal Cell Cultures,” Science 133, no. 3464 (May 1961).

  Other useful resources for this chapter include Human and Mammalian Cytogenetics: An Historical Perspective, by T C. Hsu; and C. Moberg, “Keith Porter and the Founding of the Tissue Culture Association: A Fiftieth Anniversary Tribute, 1946–1996,” In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology-Animal (November 1996).

  Chapter 14: Helen Lane

  The debate about releasing Henrietta’s name to the public is documented in letters located in the AMCA. The article that identified “Henrietta Lakes” as the source of the HeLa cell line was “U Polio-detection Method to Aid in Prevention Plans,” Minneapolis Star, November 2, 1953. The first article to identify “Helen L.” as the source of the HeLa cell line was Bill Davidson, “Probing the Secret of Life,” Collier’s, May 14, 1954.

  Chapter 17: Illegal, Immoral, and Deplorable

  Southam’s cancer cell injections are documented in many scientific articles he authored or coauthored, including “Neoplastic Changes Developing in Epithelial Cell Lines Derived from Normal Persons,” Science 124, no. 3212 (July 20, 1956); “Transplantation of Human Tumors,” letter, Science 125, no. 3239 (January 25, 1957); “Homotransplantation of Human Cell Lines,” Science 125, no. 3239 (January 25, 1957); “Applications of Immunology to Clinical Cancer Past Attempts and Future Possibilities,” Cancer Research 21 (October 1961): 1302–16; and “History and Prospects of Immunotherapy of Cancer,” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 277, no. 1 (1976).

  For media coverage of Southam’s prison studies, see “Convicts to Get Cancer Injection,” New York Times, May 23, 1956; “Cancer by the Needle,” Newsweek, June 4, 1956; “14 Convicts Injected with Live Cancer Cells,” New York Times, June 15, 1956; “Cancer Volunteers,” Time, February 25, 1957; “Cancer Defenses Found to Differ,” New York Times, April 15, 1957; “Cancer Injections Cause ‘Reaction,’” New York Times, July 18, 1956; “Convicts Sought for Cancer Test,” New York Times, August 1, 1957.

  The most complete resource on Southam’s cancer cell injections and the hearings that followed is Experimentation with Human Beings, by Jay Katz, in which he collected extensive original correspondence, court documents, and other materials that might otherwise have been lost, as they weren’t retained by the Board of Regents. Also see Jay Katz, “Experimentation on Human Beings,” Stanford Law Review 20 (November 1967). For Hyman’s lawsuits, see William A. Hyman v. Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital (42 Misc. 2d 427; 248N.YS.2d 245; 1964 and 15 N.Y.2d 317; 206 N.E.2d 338; 258 N.Y.S.2d 397; 1965). Also see patient lawsuit, Alvin Zeleznik v. Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital (47 A.D.2d 199; 366 N.Y.S.2d 163; 1975). Beecher’s paper is H. Beecher, “Ethics and Clinical Research,” New England Journal of Medicine 274, no. 24 (June 16, 1966).

  The news coverage of the ethical debate surrounding the Southam controversy includes “Scientific Experts Condemn Ethics of Cancer Injection,” New York Times, January 26, 1964; Earl Ubell, “Why the Big Fuss,” Chronicle-Telegram, January 25, 1961; Elinor Langer, “Human Experimentation: Cancer Studies at Sloan-Kettering Stir Public Debate on Medical Eth ics,” Science 143 (February 7, 1964); and Elinor Langer, “Human Experimentation: New York Verdict Affirms Patient Rights,” Science (February 11, 1966).

  Susan E. Lederer’s Subjected to Science: Human Experimentation in America Before the Second World War is a must-read on the ethics and history of research on human subjects, as is George J. Annas and Michael A. Grodin’s The Nazi Doctors and the Nuremberg Code: Human Rights in Human Experimentation. Both were important sources for this chapter. For the history of experimentation on prisoners, see Acres of Skin: Human Experiments at Holmesburg Prison, by Allen Hornblum, who interviewed Southam before he died, and kindly shared information from those interviews with me.

  For further reading in the history of bioethics, including the changes that followed the Southam controversy, see Albert R. Jonsen’s The Birth of Bioethics; David J. Rothman’s Strangers at the Bedside: A History of How Law and Bioethics Transformed Medical Decision Making; George J. Annas’s Informed Consent to Human Experimentation: The Subject’s Di lemma; M. S. Frankel, “The Development of Policy Guidelines Governing Human Experimentation in the United States: A Case Study of Public Policy-making for Science and Technology,” Ethics in Science and Medicine 2, no. 48 (1975); and R. B. Livingston, “Progress Report on Survey of Moral and Ethical Aspects of Clinical Investigation: Memorandum to Director, NIH” (November 4, 1964).

  For the definitive history of informed consent, see Ruth Faden and Tom Beauchamp’s A History and Theory of Informed Consent. For the first court case mentioning “informed consent,” see Salgo v. Leland Stanford Jr. University Board of Trustees (Civ. No. 17045. First Dist., Div. One, 1957).

  Chapter 18: The Strangest Hybrid

  Instructions for growing HeLa at home were published in C. L. Stong, “The Amateur Scientist: How to Perform Experiments with Animal Cells Living in Tissue Culture,” Scientific American, April 1966.

  Sources documenting the history of cell culture research in space include Allan A. Katzberg, “The Effects of Space Flights on Living Human Cells,” Lectures in Aerospace Medicine, School of Aerospace Medicine (1960); and K. Dickson, “Su
mmary of Biological Spaceflight Experiments with Cells,” ASGSB Bulletin 4, no. 2 (July 1991).

  Though the research done on HeLa cells in space was legitimate and useful, we now know that it was part of a cover-up for a reconnaissance project that involved photographing the Soviet Union from space. For information on the use of “biological payloads” as cover for spy missions, see Eye in the Sky: The Story of the Corona Spy Satellites, edited by Dwayne A. Day et al.

  The early paper suggesting the possibility of HeLa contamination is L. Coriell et al., “Common Antigens in Tissue Culture Cell Lines,” Science, July 25, 1958. Other resources related to early concern over culture contamination include L. B. Robinson et al., “Contamination of Human Cell Cultures by Pleuropneumonialike Organisms,” Science 124, no. 3232 (December 7, 1956); R. R. Gurner, R. A. Coombs, and R. Stevenson, “Results of Tests for the Species of Origins of Cell Lines by Means of the Mixed Agglutination Reaction,” Experimental Cell Research 28 (September 1962); R. Dulbecco, “Transformation of Cells in Vitro by Viruses,” Science 142 (November 15, 1963); R. Stevenson, “Cell Culture Collection Committee in the United States,” in Cancer Cells in Culture, edited by H. Katsuta (1968). For the history of the ATCC, see R. Stevenson, “Collection, Preservation, Characterization and Distribution of Cell Cultures,” Proceedings, Symposium on the Characterization and Uses of Human Diploid Cell Strains: Opatija (1963); and W. Clark and D. Geary, “The Story of the American Type Culture Collection: Its History and Development (1899–1973),” Advances in Applied Microbiology 17 (1974).

  Important sources on early cell hybrid research include Barski, Sorieul, and Cornefert, “Production of Cells of a ‘Hybrid’ Nature in Cultures in Vitro of 2 Cellular Strains in Combination,” Comptes Rendus Hebdoma daires des Séances de l’Académie des Sciences 215 (October 24, 1960); H. Harris and J. F Watkins, “Hybrid Cells Derived from Mouse and Man: Artificial Heterokaryons of Mammalian Cells from Different Species,” Nature 205 (February 13, 1965); M. Weiss and H. Green, “Human-Mouse Hybrid Cell Lines Containing Partial Complements of Human Chromosomes and Functioning Human Genes,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 58, no. 3 (September 15, 1967); and B. Ephrussi and C. Weiss, “Hybrid Somatic Cells,” Scientific American 20, no. 4 (April 1969).

  For additional information on Harris’s hybrid research, see his “The Formation and Characteristics of Hybrid Cells,” in Cell Fusion: The Dunham Lectures (1970); The Cells of the Body: A History of Somatic Cell Genetics; “Behaviour of Differentiated Nuclei in Heterokaryons of Animal Cells from Different Species,” Nature 206 (1965); “The Reactivation of the Red Cell Nucleus,” Journal of Cell Science 2 (1967); and H. Harris and P. R. Harris, “Synthesis of an Enzyme Determined by an Erythrocyte Nucleus in a Hybrid Cell,” Journal of Cell Science 5 (1966).

  Extensive media coverage included “Man-Animal Cells Are Bred in Lab,” The [London] Sunday Times (February 14, 1965); and “Of Mice and Men,” Washington Post (March 1, 1965).

  Chapter 20: The HeLa Bomb

  For this chapter I relied on communications and other documents housed at the AMCA and the TCAA, and on “The Proceedings of the Second Decennial Review Conference on Cell Tissue and Organ Culture, The Tissue Culture Association, Held on September 11–15, 1966,” National Cancer Institute Monographs 58, no. 26 (November 15, 1967).

  The vast number of scientific papers about culture contamination include S. M. Gartler, “Apparent HeLa Cell Contamination of Human Heteroploid Cell Lines,” Nature 217 (February 4, 1968); N. Auerspberg and S. M. Gartler, “Isoenzyme Stability in Human Heteroploid Cell Lines,” Experimental Cell Research 61 (August 1970); E. E. Fraley, S. Ecker, and M. M. Vincent, “Spontaneous in Vitro Neoplastic Transformation of Adult Human Prostatic Epithelium,” Science 170, no. 3957 (October 30, 1970); A. Yoshida, S. Watanabe, and S. M. Gartler, “Identification of HeLa Cell Glucose 6-phosphate Dehydrogenase,” Biochemical Genetics 5 (1971); W. D. Peterson et al., “Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Isoenzymes in Human Cell Cultures Determined by Sucrose-Agar Gel and Cellulose Acetate Zymograms,” Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine 128, no. 3 (July 1968); Y. Matsuya and H. Green, “Somatic Cell Hybrid Between the Established Human Line D98 (presumptive HeLa) and 3T3,” Science 163, no. 3868 (February 14, 1969); and C. S. Stulberg, L. Coriell, et al., “The Animal Cell Culture Collection,” In Vitro 5 (1970).

  For a detailed account of the contamination controversy, see A Conspiracy of Cells, by Michael Gold.

  Chapter 21: Night Doctors

  Sources for information about night doctors and the history of black Americans and medical research include Night Riders in Black Folk History, by Gladys-Marie Fry; T. L. Savitt, “The Use of Blacks for Medical Experimentation and Demonstration in the Old South,” Journal of Southern History 48, no. 3 (August 1982); Medicine and Slavery: The Disease and Health Care of Blacks in Antebellum Virginia; F. C. Waite, “Grave Robbing in New England,” Medical Library Association Bulletin (1945); W. M. Cobb, “Surgery and the Negro Physician: Some Parallels in Background,“ Journal of the National Medical Association (May 1951); V. N. Gamble, “A Legacy of Distrust: African Americans and Medical Research,” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 9 (1993); V. N. Gamble, “Under the Shadow of Tuskegee: African Americans and Health Care,” American Journal of Public Health 87, no. 11 (November 1997).

  For the most detailed and accessible account available, see Harriet Washington’s Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present.

  For the history of Hopkins, see notes for chapter 1.

  For documents and other materials relating to the 1969 ACLU lawsuit over Hopkins’s research into a genetic predisposition to criminal activity, see Jay Katz’s Experimentation with Human Beings, chapter titled “Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine: A Chronicle. Story of Criminal Gene Research.” For further reading, see Harriet Washington, “Born for Evil?” in Roelcke and Maio, Twentieth Century Ethics of Human Subjects Research (2004).

  Sources for the Hopkins lead-study story include court documents and Health and Human Services records, as well as an interview with a source connected to the case, Ericka Grimes v. Kennedy Kreiger Institute, Inc. (24-C-99–925 and 24-C-95–66067/CL 193461). See also L. M. Kopelman, “Children as Research Subjects: Moral Disputes, Regulatory Guidance and Recent Court Decisions,” Mount Sinai Medical Journal (May 2006); and J. Pollak, “The Lead-Based Paint Abatement Repair & Maintenance Study in Baltimore: Historic Framework and Study Design,” Journal of Health Care Law and Policy (2002).

  Chapter 22: “The Fame She So Richly Deserves”

  For the paper in which Henrietta’s real name was first published, see H. W. Jones, V. A. McKusick, P. S. Harper, and K. D. Wuu, “George Otto Gey (1899–1970): The HeLa Cell and a Reappraisal of Its Origin,” Obstetrics and Gynecology 38, no. 6 (December 1971). Also see J. Douglas, “Who Was HeLa?” Nature 242 (March 9, 1973); and J. Douglas, “HeLa,” Nature 242 (April 20, 1973), and B. J. C, “HeLa (for Henrietta Lacks),” Science 184, no. 4143 (June 21, 1974).

  Information regarding the misdiagnosis of Henrietta’s cancer and whether that affected her treatment comes from interviews with Howard W Jones, Roland Pattillo, Robert Kurman, David Fishman, Carmel Cohen, and others. I also relied on several scientific papers, including S. B. Gusberg and J. A. Corscaden, “The Pathology and Treatment of Adenocarcinoma of the Cervix,” Cancer 4, no. 5 (September 1951).

  For sources regarding the HeLa contamination controversy, see notes for chapter 20. The text of the 1971 National Cancer Act can be found at cancer.gov/aboutnci/national-cancer-act-1971/allpages.

  Sources regarding the ongoing controversy include L. Coriell, “Cell Repository,” Science 180, no. 4084 (April 27, 1973); W A. Nelson-Rees et al., “Banded Marker Chromosomes as Indicators of Intraspecies Cellular Contamination,” Science 184, no. 4141 (June 7, 1974); K. S. Lavappa et al., “Examination of ATCC Stocks for HeLa Marker Chromosomes in Human Cell
Lines,” Nature 259 (January 22, 1976); W K. Heneen, “HeLa Cells and Their Possible Contamination of Other Cell Lines: Karyotype Studies,” Hereditas 82 (1976); W A. Nelson-Rees and R. R. Flandermeyer, “HeLa Cultures Defined,” Science 191, no. 4222 (January 9, 1976); M. M. Webber, “Present Status of MA-160 Cell Line: Prostatic Epithelium or HeLa Cells?” Investigative Urology 14, no. 5 (March 1977); and W A. Nelson-Rees, “The Identification and Monitoring of Cell Line Specificity,” in Origin and Natural History of Cell Lines (Alan R. Liss, Inc., 1978).

  I also relied on both published and unpublished reflections by those directly involved in the controversy. Published articles include W A. Nelson-Rees, “Responsibility for Truth in Research,” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society 356, no. 1410 (June 29, 2001); S. J. O’Brien, “Cell Culture Forensics,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 98, no. 14 (July 3, 2001); and R. Chatterjee, “Cell Biology: A Lonely Crusade,” Science 16, no. 315 (February 16, 2007).

  PART THREE: IMMORTALITY

  Chapter 23: “It’s Alive”

  This chapter relied in part on letters housed at the AMCMA, on Deborah Lacks’s medical records, and on “Proceedings for the New Haven Conference (1973): First International Workshop on Human Gene Mapping,” Cyto genetics and Cell Genetics 13 (1974): 1–216.