Impact of HeLa Cells on Biomedical Research

HeLa Cells: A Lasting Contribution to Biomedical Research
Significant Research Advances Enabled by HeLa Cells
HeLa Around the World
Science Topics Using HeLa Cells
Publications Involving HeLa Cells

HeLa Cells: A Lasting Contribution to Biomedical Research

In 1951, Henrietta Lacks, a 31-year-old African-American woman, went to Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Hospital to be treated for cervical cancer. Some of her cancer cells began being used in research due to their unique ability to continuously grow and divide in the laboratory. These so-called “immortal” cells were later named “HeLa” after the first two letters of Henrietta Lacks first and last name.

Since Ms. Lacks’ untimely death in 1952, HeLa cells have been a vital tool in biomedical research, leading to an increased understanding of the fundamentals of human health and disease. Some of the research involving HeLa cells also served as the underpinning of several Nobel Prize winning discoveries.

While Henrietta Lacks’ story has been known in the research community for some time, it raised further awareness after the publication of the best-selling book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Crown, 2010).

To honor Ms. Lacks’ and her family’s continued support of biomedical research, NIH analyzed and evaluated the scientific literature involving HeLa cells and found over 110,000 publications that cited the use of HeLa cells between 1953 to 2018. This analysis further highlights the persistent impact of HeLa cells in science and medicine, proving that they have been a consistent, essential tool that has allowed researchers to expand the knowledge base in fields such as cancer biology, infectious disease, and many others.

This website aims to act as a transparent, accessible resource to the general public, scientific researchers, and the Lacks’ family that is in keeping with the spirit of the historic 2013 NIH-Lacks Family Agreement . NIH remains grateful to Henrietta Lacks and her family for the contributions of HeLa cells to science and medicine, and for her family’s continued support of biomedical research.

Significant Research Advances Enabled by HeLa Cells

In 1952, HeLa cells became the first human cell line that could grow and divide endlessly in a laboratory, leading scientists to label these cells “immortal”. The immortality of HeLa cells contributed to their adoption across the world as the human cell line of choice for biomedical research. Though additional cells lines have been developed over the years, HeLa cells continue to be widely used to advance biomedical research and medicine.

The enduring use of HeLa cells in biomedical research is represented below through a timeline of events and scientific publications that describe research using HeLa cells. The timeline aims to show the role that HeLa cells have played in some of the major advances in fields such as cancer biology, infectious disease, fundamental microbiology and many others. The hyperlinked text provided in each entry provides the underlying sources for the advances and allows the reader to take a deeper look into the actual science. The events that were selected were based on the number of times researchers cited, or gave credit, to the publication(s) in which the events were described. Research involving HeLa cells has been described in more than 110,00 scientific publications. This staggering number makes it clear just how important these cells have been to research over the past six decades.

The versatility and power of HeLa cells have made them an essential laboratory tool that still continue to provide new clues about the basis of human health and disease.

FILTER Historical Event Nobel Prizes Molecular Biology and Genetics Cell Physiology and Disease Cancer Research and Basic Research Methodology

JUMP TO DECADE ^1950s ^1960s ^1970s ^1980s ^1990s ^2000s ^2010s

1950s

1951: Where It All Begins

Henrietta Lacks, a 31-year old African-American woman, seeks treatment for cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. During her treatment, cells from her tumor are taken. These cells will come to be known as “HeLa” cells, taken from the first two letters of Henrietta’s Lacks’ first and last name.
Historical Event

1952: Establishing HeLa Cells

HeLa cells grow continuously in a laboratory for the first time. Over the next 60+ years, thousands of scientists will author over 110,000 research publications involving HeLa cells.
Historical Event

1953: Laying the Ground Work for the Polio Vaccine

Scientists discover that HeLa cells are found to be an effective tool for growing large amounts of poliovirus, the cause of Poliomyelitis, or polio disease . The high amount of virus that can be grown in HeLa cells allow scientists to better understand how the virus infects cells and causes disease. This knowledge lays important groundwork for the eventual development of the polio vaccine.
Cell Physiology and Disease

1956: Understanding the Effects of X-Rays on Human Cells

Scientists use HeLa cells to determine how radiation can damage cells in one of the first experiments to study the impact of X-rays on human cell growth . These studies provide valuable information about how x-rays can have a negative effect on human health.
Cancer Research and Basic Research Methodology

1956: Developing Cancer Research Methods

HeLa cells are used by scientists to develop a cancer research method that tests whether a cell line is cancerous or not. This method proves so reliable that scientists use it to this day.
Cancer Research and Basic Research Methodology

1960s

1964: Going to Outer Space

HeLa cells are taken aboard some of the very first capsules used to explore outer space. These studies provide initial clues to how human cells will react to radiation and how space travel may impact astronauts in future manned missions.
Cell Physiology and Disease

1964: Shedding Light on Treatments for Blood Disorders

HeLa cells are used to study the potential treatment benefits of a drug called Hydroxyurea against certain blood cancers and sickle cell anemia. Scientists note that when Hydroxyurea is applied to cancerous cells, cancer growth slows down. It is also shown that Hydroxyurea helps prevent the mis-shaping of red blood cells caused by the genetic mutation responsible for sickle cell anemia. Today, Hydroxyurea is an approved treatment for certain blood cancers and sickle cell anemia.
Cancer Research and Basic Research Methodology

1970s

1973: Determining How Salmonella Causes Infection

Scientists discover that HeLa cells allow for faster and more cost-effective ways to test how Salmonella infects the body . Salmonella is a bacterium that causes 1.2 million illnesses a year. By studying the ways Salmonella infects the body, new methods can be developed to diagnose and treat the disease.
Cell Physiology and Disease

1980s

1985: Making Strides Against Cervical Cancer

Scientists use HeLa cells to discover how the presence of the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) can lead to certain types of cervical cancer . The discovery that HPV can lead to cervical cancer paves the way for development of one of the first anti-cancer vaccines. This work later leads to a Nobel Prize in 2008 for Dr. Harald zur Hausen (see entry below for more information).
Cell Physiology and Disease

1985: Slowing Cancer Growth

Scientists discover that when HeLa cells are treated with a drug called Campothecin, cancer cell growth slows . These findings support future studies that verify that Camptothecin can limit uncontrollable cell growth in cancer cells beyond HeLa cells. Camptothecin is later approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a treatment for certain types of ovarian, lung, and cervical cancers.
Cancer Research and Basic Research Methodology

1988: Advancing Understanding of HIV Infection

In the early days of the HIV-AIDS epidemic, scientists discover that HeLa cells are not easily infected by HIV . Using this information, researchers gain important basic understanding of how HIV infection works. This knowledge later facilitates drug development aimed at limiting the spread of HIV.
Molecular Biology and Genetics

1989: Learning How Cells Age

Research involving HeLa cells shows that the telomerase enzyme produces “caps” on the ends of DNA chromosomes that prevent them from degrading over time . This is important for understanding the underlying biology of aging as well as diseases that cause premature aging. The impact of this work later leads to a 2009 Nobel Prize for Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, Dr. Carol Greider, and Dr. Jack Szostak (see entry below for more information).
Molecular Biology and Genetics

1990s

1993: Exploring How Tuberculosis Makes People Sick

Scientists use HeLa cells to see for the first-time, at the molecular level, how tuberculosis makes people sick . Tuberculosis has caused disease since ancient times and is thought to infect 25% of the world’s population. The discovery of how this disease works provides vital information for the potential development of treatments and more effective vaccines.
Molecular Biology and Genetics

2000s

2001: Innovating Single Cell Imaging

Scientists use HeLa cells to develop a new and innovative single cell microscopic imaging method . This method allows scientists to see the mechanism by which viruses enter cells and allows for the clearest view of the inner workings of a living cell. This groundbreaking approach leads to a 2014 Nobel Prize for Dr. Eric Betzig, Dr. Stefan W. Hell, and Dr. William E. Moerner (see entry below for more information).
Cancer Research and Basic Research Methodology

2001: Understanding the Infectivity of Ebola and HIV

Scientists uncover that HIV and Ebola share a similar process to enter cells and cause disease . This finding, based on previous HIV research results, provides vital information on the quest to develop a more effective Ebola vaccine.
Cell Physiology and Disease

2008: Dr. Harald Zur Hausen Wins the Nobel Prize for Showing Viruses Can Cause Certain Cancers

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to Dr. Harald zur Hausen. Dr. zur Hausen’s work using human papilloma viruses-infected HeLa cells demonstrates that certain types of viruses can cause cancer . Dr. zur Hausen’s groundbreaking research is one of the first studies to definitively show that viruses can cause certain types of cancer. His discovery also leads to the development of a vaccine against cervical cancer, which is the second most common cancer in women.
Nobel Prize

2009: Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, Dr. Carol Greider, and Dr. Jack Szostak are Awarded the Nobel Prize for their Research on Telomeres

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded to Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, Dr. Carol Greider, and Dr. Jack Szostak. Their work uses HeLa cells to reveal that at each end of a chromosome lies a telomere or “cap” that is replenished by the telomerase enzyme . Telomerase keeps the chromosome from degrading and thus, prevents cellular breakdown, damage, and decay.
Nobel Prize

2010s

2010: Repurposing Thalidomide to Fight Cancer

Researchers use HeLa cells to describe how birth defects were caused by the anti-morning sickness drug, thalidomide . Scientists were able to take this information about how thalidomide works and apply it to halt the progress of certain cancers like multiple myeloma.
Cancer Research and Basic Research Methodology

2013: Allowing Research to Continue to Advance Science While Protecting Privacy

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) reaches an agreement with the descendants of Henrietta Lacks to allow biomedical researchers controlled-access to the whole genome data of HeLa cells . Access to the whole genome data of these cells will be a valuable reference tool for researchers to study the cause and effect of many diseases with the goal of developing treatments. This landmark agreement exemplifies NIH’s continued commitment to seeing research participants as partners in the research enterprise.
Historical Event

2014: Dr. Eric Betzig, Dr. Stefan W. Hell, and Dr. William E. Moerner are Awarded the Nobel Prize for Advances in Live Viewing of Cellular Growth

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded to Dr. Eric Betzig, Dr. Stefan W. Hell, and Dr. William E. Moerner. Their work, much of it using HeLa cells, involves developing a microscope technique that allows for the live viewing of on-going cellular process such as cellular growth . This newly designed microscope provides a crucial window into the physiology of living specimens with improved resolution and scale and even allows the viewing of a single molecule.
Nobel Prize

HeLa Around the World

Research with HeLa cells have been used to shed light on some of the most fundamental questions about human health and disease. HeLa cells have also played an important catalyst role in furthering experiments that bridge multiple disciplines. The chart below visualizes the number of publications in which HeLa cells were used in combination with other techniques and technologies to further knowledge between certain scientific areas of research. For example, if you move your cursor across the area contained under “Cell Migration”, you will see that there have been 366 publications that involve HeLa cells, bacteriology and cell migration. In continuing to move across, you find that there have been 311 publications involving HeLa cells, mitosis, and cell migration. This chart helps visualize how ubiquitous the use of HeLa cells has become over the past six decades.

Published Research Articles Using HeLa Cells From 1953-2018

Science Topics Using HeLa Cells

Number of Publications Using HeLa Cells Across Research Areas

The number of scientific publications using HeLa cells from 1953-2018 is shown below and highlights the breadth of how many areas of scientific research have benefited from this technology. The unique properties of HeLa cells and its ability to support large amount of viral growth helps explain why scientists working in the field of virology have published the most HeLa-related papers since 1953 (approximately 6,000). Scientists studying gene transcription, imaging and microscopy, and nanotech and drug delivery have also added significantly to the scientific literature with almost 15,000 combined publications.

Publications Involving HeLa Cells

A yearly tally of how many publications cited the use of HeLa cells appears in the chart below. It is interesting to note that in the first decade (1953-1963) of HeLa cell use, the most publications that occurred in any one year numbered only 127 (1963). As shown in the chart, there has been a strong and steady increase in the use of HeLa cells with a peak of approximately 6,200 publications in 2015. Please note that we have not finished compiling the statistics for the number of publications from 2016, 2017, and 2018. They will be updated shortly.

The continuous upward trend in publications since 1953 clearly show that even after six decades, HeLa cells are a vital tool that allow scientists to conduct essential basic research.

Number of publications, per year, from 1953 to 2018

*Publications are still being populated for the years 2016, 2017, and 2018 and the number of publications using HeLa cells per year are lower as a result.

Highly Cited Publications by Year

Below, you will find a decade-by-decade list of the most highly cited publications, relating to HeLa cells, from each year. The number of citations that a publication receives is one measure of the impact the publication has made on the scientific community.