BBC Learnings · Section 6

The woman whose cells never die

What do Vincent van Gogh and Galileo Galilei have in common, Georgina? Their first name and last names both start with the same letter.

Level: C1 · 96 sentences

Transcript

  1. What do Vincent van Gogh and Galileo Galilei have in common, Georgina?
  2. Their first name and last names both start with the same letter.
  3. Well, that's true.
  4. But another similarity is their amazing contributions to art and science.
  5. were only recognised after their death.
  6. I know another person whose huge contribution to science
  7. went unrecognised during her lifetime, Rob.
  8. But unlike Van Gogh or Galileo, you probably haven't heard of her.
  9. She's the subject of this programme.
  10. Henrietta Lacks was a young black American mother
  11. who died of cancer in Baltimore in 1951.
  12. Although she never consented to her tissues being used for medical research,
  13. doctors at the time found her cells to have an extraordinary ability to replace themselves endlessly.
  14. Named HeLa cells after her initials,
  15. Henrietta Lacks' tissue helped make possible all sorts of medical breakthroughs,
  16. from the polio vaccine to cancer drugs to HIV and IVF treatments.
  17. Born 100 years ago, in 1920,
  18. the great-great-granddaughter of slaves, Henrietta Lacks,
  19. Henrietta and her cells continue to provide medical discoveries to this day.
  20. Most recently, of course, in the race for a coronavirus vaccine.
  21. But before we go on, Georgina, it's time for my quiz question.
  22. I mentioned that Henrietta Lacks was born 100 years ago,
  23. but do you know what other medical breakthrough happened in 1921? Was it...
  24. c the discovery of vitamin E?
  25. I'll say a the discovery of insulin.
  26. OK, Georgina. We'll find out if that's right later on.
  27. Now, it was Henrietta's biography by science writer Rebecca Skloot
  28. that brought her remarkable story to the world's attention a decade ago.
  29. Here is Rebecca Skloot explaining Henrietta's importance to BBC World Service programme, The Forum.
  30. So much of science is based on growing cells and culture,
  31. which started with her cells.
  32. In vitro fertilization, that started with the ability to grow
  33. embryos and culture,
  34. which you can do in part thanks to her cells.
  35. The list just goes on and on.
  36. And right now, people are often asking,
  37. how are HeLa cells helping with COVID?
  38. Scientists worked that out very quickly using her cells.
  39. They figured out what the receptor looks like.
  40. And they did the same thing with HIV.
  41. So her cells are just this incredible workhorse that is at the base of so much science.
  42. Doctors used Henrietta's cells to figure out
  43. or understand how cells reproduce and divide.
  44. Knowledge that was vital in developing in vitro fertilisation or IVF,
  45. a technique for women who cannot become pregnant naturally
  46. in which an egg is fertilised outside the body.
  47. Our bodies are made of millions and millions of cells
  48. and to understand how they work we need to grow them in a lab.
  49. No one had succeeded in doing this until Henrietta's extraordinary cells
  50. which just grew and grew.
  51. This resulted not only in fertility treatments
  52. but later in AIDS and cancer breakthroughs,
  53. which is why Rebecca refers to HeLa cells as a workhorse,
  54. meaning someone who does a lot of work.
  55. But perhaps Henrietta's greatest legacy of all was the vaccine for polio.
  56. Here's Professor of Genetics Sir John Byrne
  57. talking to BBC World Service's The Forum.
  58. Henrietta would have particularly liked the announcement this year
  59. that polio vaccine had led to the eradication of polio in Africa.
  60. So the centenary of her birth,
  61. it seems rather symbolic that her unwitting contribution to medicine
  62. eventually eradicated that scourge of mankind.
  63. John Byrne calls polio a scourge,
  64. meaning something causing much pain and suffering.
  65. Henrietta's role in eradicating this terrible disease is all the more remarkable
  66. as she was never asked permission to use her cells for research.
  67. And it's taken decades for the Lacks family to win their grandmother over.
  68. the recognition she deserves.
  69. That's why John Byrne calls Henrietta's contribution unwitting.
  70. It was made without her knowledge or consent.
  71. And with the eyes of the world now focused
  72. on vaccines for the coronavirus,
  73. this year is a symbolic time to celebrate her centenary,
  74. the 100th anniversary of an important event.
  75. Henrietta Lacks, a remarkable woman whose name is finally
  76. making its way into the history books.
  77. But something else remarkable happened 100 years ago, didn't it, Rob?
  78. Ah yes, you mean my quiz question.
  79. I asked you which important medical breakthrough
  80. occurred 100 years ago in 1921.
  81. I said a the discovery of insulin.
  82. Which was the correct answer.
  83. Discovered by Canadian doctor Frederick Banting,
  84. insulin saved the lives of millions of diabetics.
  85. And on that healthy note, let's recap the vocabulary from this programme,
  86. starting with in vitro fertilisation or IVF.
  87. a medical technique for women who cannot become pregnant naturally.
  88. Henrietta's HeLa cells help doctors figure out
  89. or understand a lot about how cells grow
  90. and led to so many medical discoveries we might call them a workhorse,
  91. something which works extremely hard.
  92. A scourge means something that causes much pain and suffering,
  93. like the terrible diseases which Henrietta's unwitting or unknowing contribution helped eradicate.
  94. Making 2021 a year of hope
  95. and the perfect time to celebrate the centenary of her birth,
  96. its 100th anniversary.