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Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman from Baltimore County, died of cancer in 1951, but her cells, harvested without her consent, continued to reproduce, instead of dying out. Her DNA was used by researchers for many medical breakthroughs. But Lacks’s unique contribution to science had remained unacknowledged till 2010. Now, in this Women’s History Month, a Democrat has filed legislation to posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to Lacks.
The Congressional Gold Medal, awarded for distinguished achievements and contributions, is considered one of the highest civilian honors in the US.
For Maryland Representative Kweisi Mfume, shepherding the legislation is a “personal honor,” as he grew up in the same neighborhood. His mother also knew Lacks: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/bill-would-honor-henrietta-lacks-with-posthumous-congressional-gold-medal/2022/03/24/bec02038-ab1b-11ec-b06d-7b66e120cc89_story.html
Also read:
https://mfume.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-kweisi-mfume-files-bill-honoring-henrietta-lacks-congressional-gold-medal
“I believe that Henrietta Lacks is deserving of the Congressional Gold Medal simply because she is a miracle and her cells continue to live long after she left us in October of 1951,” Mfume says: https://www.wbaltv.com/article/push-to-honor-henrietta-lacks-with-congressional-gold-medal/39440638#
Lacks was diagnosed with cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. Doctors took samples from her cervix – without her consent. She did not survive, but her cells did. Using them, scientists developed the polio vaccine. (The development of even some of the coronavirus vaccines is credited to her DNA.) It is thanks to her that science has a better idea of diseases such as leukemia and AIDS. The cells helped researchers discover the effects of zero gravity in space and also create the human genome: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02494-z
Within scientific community, the cells were identified as ‘HeLa,’ but most scientists had no idea whse cells they were using. In 2010, Rebecca Skloot published a critically acclaimed non-fiction, ‘The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks’: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/henriettalacks/immortal-life-of-henrietta-lacks.html
“No dead woman has done more for the living . . . A fascinating, harrowing, necessary book,” Bookr-winner novelist Hilary Mantel wrote in her review. In 2017, HBO produced a film version of it, starring Oprah Winfrey: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5686132/
It was then that Johns Hopkins admitted it should’ve informed the family earlier. The family too became aware of the possible legacy then and last year they found a lawyer – Ben Crump – who has represented the family of George Floyd: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/henrietta-lacks-family-sues-company/2021/10/04/810ffa6c-2531-11ec-8831-a31e7b3de188_story.html