Medical exploitation is an often overlooked part of Black history and partly explains the mistrust that members of the Black community have for the medical industry.
The HeLa line of immortal human epithelial cancer cells was derived from cells taken from Henrietta Lacks when she was a cancer patient in 1951.
(Wellcome Collection: Anne Weston, Francis Crick Institute)
The settlement is a long-awaited moment of victory for Henrietta Lacks and her family. But the battle for justice in genetic and medical research is not over yet.
Cancer-causing viruses like HPV can cause cells to divide indefinitely and, in the case of Henrietta Lacks, become immortal.
Tom Deerinck/NIH via Flickr
The immortal cancer cells of Henrietta Lacks revolutionized the fields of science, medicine and bioethics. And they still survive today, more than 70 years after her death.