1\documentclass[11pt,letterpaper,sans]{moderncv}
2\moderncvstyle{casual}
3\moderncvcolor{blue}
4\usepackage[scale=0.77]{geometry}
5\name{Henrietta}{Lacks}
6\title{Source of the HeLa cell line}
7\extrainfo{Born Loretta Pleasant, 1 August 1920, Roanoke, Virginia. Died 4 October 1951, Baltimore, Maryland.}
8\begin{document}
9\makecvtitle
10\section{Life}
11\cventry{1924}{Clover, Virginia}{}{}{}{After her mother's death she was raised by her grandfather in a log cabin that had been slave quarters on a plantation. She worked as a tobacco farmer and left school in the sixth grade.}
12\cventry{1941}{Turner Station, Maryland}{}{}{}{Married David ``Day'' Lacks, who worked at Bethlehem Steel. Five children: Lawrence, Elsie, David Jr., Deborah and Joseph.}
13\cventry{1951}{Johns Hopkins Hospital}{Baltimore}{}{}{Treated for cervical cancer. Two samples were taken from her cervix without her permission or knowledge; at the time no consent was required. She died on 4 October 1951, aged 31, and was buried in an unmarked grave in Lackstown, Clover.}
14\section{The cells}
15\cventry{1951}{HeLa}{George Otto Gey, Johns Hopkins}{}{}{The cells from the cancerous sample could be divided many times without dying; cells cultured until then had survived a few days at most. The line was named from the first two letters of her first and last names.}
16\cventry{1954--1955}{Mass production}{}{}{}{Used by Jonas Salk in developing the polio vaccine; in 1955, the first human cells to be cloned. The cells were mailed to scientists around the world for research into cancer, AIDS, radiation and gene mapping. Almost 11,000 patents involve HeLa cells.}
17\section{Consent and the family}
18\cventry{1975}{The family}{}{}{}{After HeLa had contaminated other cell cultures, researchers asked the family for blood samples. In 1975 the family learned by chance that her cells were still used in research.}
19\cventry{2013}{National Institutes of Health}{}{}{}{The genome of a HeLa strain was published without the family's knowledge. An agreement gave the family some control over access to the sequence data and two seats on the six-member committee that regulates it.}
20\cventry{2021--2026}{Lawsuits}{}{}{}{Her estate sued Thermo Fisher Scientific for profiting from the cell line without her consent (settled 2023); a settlement with Novartis followed in 2026.}
21\end{document}
22
Henrietta Lacks
Source of the HeLa cell line
Life
1924 Clover, Virginia
After her mother’s death she was raised by her grandfather in a log cabin that had been slave
quarters on a plantation. She worked as a tobacco farmer and left school in the sixth grade.
1941 Turner Station, Maryland
Married David “Day” Lacks, who worked at Bethlehem Steel. Five children: Lawrence, Elsie,
David Jr., Deborah and Joseph.
1951 Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore
Treated for cervical cancer. Two samples were taken from her cervix without her permission or
knowledge; at the time no consent was required. She died on 4 October 1951, aged 31, and was
buried in an unmarked grave in Lackstown, Clover.
The cells
1951 HeLa, George Otto Gey, Johns Hopkins
The cells from the cancerous sample could be divided many times without dying; cells cultured
until then had survived a few days at most. The line was named from the first two letters of her
first and last names.
1954–1955 Mass production
Used by Jonas Salk in developing the polio vaccine; in 1955, the first human cells to be cloned.
The cells were mailed to scientists around the world for research into cancer, AIDS, radiation and
gene mapping. Almost 11,000 patents involve HeLa cells.
Consent and the family
1975 The family
After HeLa had contaminated other cell cultures, researchers asked the family for blood samples.
In 1975 the family learned by chance that her cells were still used in research.
2013 National Institutes of Health
The genome of a HeLa strain was published without the family’s knowledge. An agreement
gave the family some control over access to the sequence data and two seats on the six-member
committee that regulates it.
2021–2026 Lawsuits
Her estate sued Thermo Fisher Scientific for profiting from the cell line without her consent
(settled 2023); a settlement with Novartis followed in 2026.
Born Loretta Pleasant, 1 August 1920, Roanoke, Virginia. Died 4 October 1951, Baltimore, Maryland.