As we try to “flatten the curve” of stress on our medical
facilities and healthcare workers, we pray for a vaccine against Covid19.
Doctors are studying patient responses and leaning over lab Petri dishes with
questions. No doubt they will turn to the immortal cells of Henrietta Lacks, called
HeLa cells, that have helped fight numerous diseases from Polio, Ebola, Parkinson’s to AIDS.
Who was Henrietta Lacks?
Henrietta Lacks, a young mother of five, died in 1951 at John Hopkins Hospital from
cervical cancer that her Doctor noted "looked like pearls". He had stitched tubes and pouches
filled with radium inside her cervix, as was standard treatment at the time for
invasive cervical cancer. He also took some cell samples from her cervix,
without her knowledge or consent, which was also standard practice at that time.
Henrietta, the great, great, granddaughter of a slave, died
that same year at the age of 31. Her cells in the lab replicated quickly and
continually and amazed the doctor with their seeming immortality. They were the
first human cells to reproduce outside the body! Afraid of being sued, the
doctor gave the cells a code name, “HeLa” and shared them in labs across the
country. They are still the most commonly used cells in research today.
The story turns rough when you learn that in the 1970’s some
scientists, with secret agendas, did research on Henrietta Lacks' children
without their informed consent. Then in 1975, a family friend asked about the
source of the Lacks cells that his coworkers, at the National Cancer Institute,
were studying. It brought a light to the two decades of darkness that the Lacks
family had been kept in.
A book was written, then an HBO movie. In 2010 the John
Hopkins Hospital donated a grave marker to her unmarked plot. It says: “Here
lies Henrietta Lacks, Her immortal cells will continue to help mankind
forever.”
To say that Lacks is a global phenomenon would be limiting.
In 1962 her cells were launched into outer space aboard a Russian satellite for
study. Two years ago, the National Museum of African American History ofCulture and the National Portrait Gallery jointly acquired a painting of Lacks.
It adds a beautiful and much needed face to the woman often called “the mother
of modern medicine”.
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| Kadir Nelson with his painting of Lacks |
Who painted her portrait?
Kadir Nelson (b.1974), an American artist, was commissioned
by HBO for the 2017 movie premier of “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”, to
paint the first portrait of Lacks. An author of several best-selling children’s
books on African-American culture and lead artist for Steven Spielberg’s 1997historical drama Amistad, Nelson is
known for his larger than life portraits of African American leaders. According
to his website, Nelson chooses “subject matter that has emotional and spiritual
resonance and focuses on the journey of the hero as it relates to the personal
and collective stories of people."
There was no portrait in existence of Lacks save for two
small family photos. Nelson used those as well as a vocabulary of symbolism to
tell Lacks' story. Standing in a red dress, Nelson paints a yellow straw hat as
a halo around Lacks’ head. Her strong faith is reflected in the bible she holds
with her hands crossed over her womb. A complex “Flower of Life” pattern against
which she stands is the ancient symbol for immortality and exponential growth.
The pearls around her neck reflect the doctor’s note about how her cancer grew.
A pendant of a nest represents motherhood and the hope of fresh birth. The repeating flower
pattern on the dress symbolizes the biological bounty that she shed without knowledge
for our salvation. The most poignant details are the two small buttons missing from her dress.
They symbolize that something precious was taken from her.
Hopefully, soon the HeLa cells will demonstrate another cure.
