Cancer Cell Research. The Way of All Flesh

Description

For years, scientists tried to get cancer cells to reproduce outside of the body with little success. In 1951, a few days before an African-American woman named Henrietta Lacks died of cervical cancer in a Baltimore hospital, and without her consent, a scientist took samples from her remarkably aggressive tumor and placed them in growth medium to see if the cancerous cells would survive and grow. Not only did they flourish, but Henrietta's cells have since proven vital to cancer research worldwide. Known as the HeLa immortal cell line in biomedical research, Henrietta's cells have endured for decades in labs around the world while she remained anonymous and unrecognized. This program examines how HeLa cells have advanced the war on cancer and why they have caused controversy among scientists in the highly politicized research community.

Runtime

60 min

Subjects

Genre

Date of Publication

[2012], c1997

Database

Films on Demand

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