HeLa 1

I have Encyclopedia Britannica installed on my computer—the most extensive edition they offer. After reading part 1, of Rebecca Skloot’s book, I wanted to see what information—if any—I could find in the encyclopedia. I typed in the various names associated with Henrietta Lacks, but nothing came up. I typed in He-La and had a hit:

          a cancerous cell belonging to a strain continuously cultured since its isolation in 1951 from a patient suffering from uterine cervical carcinoma. The designation HeLa is derived from the name of the patient. HeLa cells have been widely used in laboratory studies, especially in research on viruses.

I find it interesting that this brief summary of “HeLa” falls into one of Skloot’s main observations. The observation that Henrietta Lacks and her contribution to science is largely veiled from public knowledge. The brief summary mentions that HeLa derives from the name of a patient, but fails to mention that patient’s full name. In addition, the digital article gives little attention and explanation of Lacks’ cells contribution to science. I love having an encyclopedia on hand, it has facilitated school assignments. If I want to know about something I don’t have to rely on the internet. However, it seems in this case, that if I wanted to write an accurate summary about Henrietta Lacks or know something about her, Encyclopedia Britannica wouldn’t be the best source to start with.
Domalski

"HeLa cell." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite.  Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011.