German Lab Apologizes and Retracts Info about Henrietta Lacks's Genome

It seems that the German lab that published Henrietta Lacks’s genome realized its mistake, apologized, and “withdrew” the data from an online journal.

Henrietta Lacks was a poor Virginian tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors. Society recently became aware of her and her cells because of Rebecca Skloot’s 2011 book, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.” The book’s summary explains the many uses that science has gleaned from HeLa cells. The summary says:

“HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions.”

Science has used her cervical cancer cells, taken in 1951 without her consent and called HeLa cells, to develop vaccines (such as the one for polio) and treatments, and to unravel the secrets of cancer. Lacks is called the immortal woman because even though she died and is buried in an unmarked grave, her cells have been replicated and kept alive to this day. But because her cells were taken without her consent in 1951, her family members are concerned that the world now has information regarding their genetic traits--the most personal of personal information. In addition, the family has not received monetary compensation or royalties from all the experiments and scientific advances.

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