Henrietta Lacks (August 1, 1920 – October 4, 1951) (sometimes erroneously called Henrietta Lakes, Helen Lane or Helen Larson) was an African-American woman who was the unwitting source of cells (from her cancerous tumor) which were cultured by George Otto Gey to create an immortal cell line for medical research. This is now known as the HeLa cell line.
Famous quotes containing the words henrietta and/or lacks:
“One of the greatest faults of the women of the present time is a silly fear of things, and one object of the education of girls should be to give them knowledge of what things are really dangerous.”
—Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards (1842–1911)
“Better to be despised and have a servant, than to be self-important and lack food.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Proverbs 12:9.
RSV translation reads, “Better is a man of humble standing who works for himself than one who plays the great man but lacks bread.”