Subtitles section Play video
-
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Rob.
-
And I'm Georgina.
-
What do Vincent Van Gogh and Galileo Galilei
-
have in common, Georgina?
-
Hmm… their first name and last names
-
both start with the same letter?
-
Well, that's true… but another similarity is their amazing
-
contributions – to art and science -
-
were only recognised after their death.
-
I know another person whose huge contribution to science
-
went unrecognised during her lifetime, Rob,
-
but unlike Van Gogh or Galileo, you probably haven't heard of her.
-
She's the subject of this programme.
-
Henrietta Lacks was a young, black, American mother
-
who died of cancer in Baltimore in 1951.
-
Although she never consented to her tissues being used for
-
medical research, doctors at the time found her cells
-
to have an extraordinary ability to replace themselves endlessly.
-
Named 'HeLa cells' after her initials, Henrietta Lacks' tissue
-
helped make possible all sorts of medical breakthroughs,
-
from the polio vaccine to cancer drugs, to HIV and IVF treatments.
-
Born one hundred years ago, in 1920,
-
the great-great-granddaughter of slaves, Henrietta and her cells
-
continue to provide medical discoveries to this day…
-
…most recently, of course, in the race for a coronavirus vaccine.
-
But before we go on, Georgina, it's time for my quiz question.
-
I mentioned that Henrietta Lacks was born one hundred years ago,
-
but do you know what other medical breakthrough happened
-
in 1921? Was it: a) the discovery of insulin?,
-
b) the discovery of penicillin?,
-
or, c) the discovery of vitamin E?
-
I'll say, a) the discovery of insulin.
-
OK, Georgina, we'll find out if that's right later on.
-
Now, it was Henrietta's biography by science writer,
-
Rebecca Skloot, that brought her remarkable story
-
to the world's attention a decade ago.
-
Here is Rebecca Skloot, explaining Henrietta's importance
-
to BBC World Service programme, The Forum:
-
So much of science is based on growing cells in culture
-
which started with her cells.
-
In vitro fertilization – that started with the ability to grow
-
embryos in culture which you can do in part thanks to her cells
-
so the list just goes on and on, and right now
-
people are often asking how are HeLa cells helping with Covid. […]
-
Scientists worked that out very quickly using her cells…
-
they figured out what the receptor looks like
-
and they did the same thing with HIV…
-
so her cells are just this incredible workhorse
-
that is at the base of so much science.
-
Doctors used Henrietta's cells to figure out –
-
or understand, how cells reproduce and divide –
-
knowledge that was vital in developing in vitro fertilization,
-
or IVF, a technique for women who cannot become
-
pregnant naturally, in which an egg is fertilized
-
outside the body.
-
Our bodies are made of millions and millions of cells
-
and to understand how they work
-
we need to grow them in a lab.
-
No-one had succeeded in doing this until
-
Henrietta's extraordinary cells which just grew and grew.
-
This resulted not only in new fertility treatments,
-
but later in AIDS and cancer breakthroughs,
-
which is why Rebecca refers to HeLa cells as a workhorse,
-
meaning someone who does a lot of work.
-
But perhaps Henrietta's greatest legacy of all
-
was the vaccine for polio.
-
Here's professor of genetics, Sir John Burn,
-
talking to BBC World Service's, The Forum:
-
Henrietta would have particularly liked the announcement
-
this year that polio vaccine had led to the eradication of
-
polio in Africa – so the centenary of her birth
-
it seems rather symbolic that her
-
unwitting contribution to medicine
-
eventually eradicated that scourge of mankind.
-
John Burn calls polio a scourge,
-
meaning something causing much pain and suffering.
-
Henrietta's role in eradicating this terrible disease
-
is all the more remarkable as she was never asked
-
permission to use her cells for research,
-
and it's taken decades for the Lacks family
-
to win their grandmother the recognition she deserves.
-
That's why John Burn calls Henrietta's contribution unwitting –
-
it was made without her knowledge or consent.
-
And with the eyes of the world now focused on vaccines
-
for the coronavirus, this year is a symbolic
-
time to celebrate her centenary -
-
the one hundredth anniversary of an important event.
-
Henrietta Lacks - a remarkable woman whose name is
-
finally making its way into the history books.
-
But something else remarkable happened
-
one hundred years ago, didn't it, Rob?
-
Ah yes, you mean my quiz question.
-
I asked you which important medical breakthrough
-
occurred one hundred years ago, in 1921.
-
I said, a) the discovery of insulin.
-
Which was… the correct answer!
-
Discovered by Canadian doctor Frederick Banting,
-
insulin saved the lives of millions of diabetics.
-
And on that healthy note, let's recap the vocabulary
-
from this programme, starting with in vitro fertilization,
-
or IVF – a medical technique for women who
-
cannot become pregnant naturally.
-
Henrietta's HeLa cells helped doctors figure out -
-
or understand - a lot about how cells grow
-
and led to so many medical discoveries
-
we might call them a workhorse –
-
something which works extremely hard.
-
A scourge means something that causes much pain
-
and suffering, like the terrible diseases
-
which Henrietta's unwitting, or unknowing,
-
contribution helped eradicate.
-
Making 2021 a year of hope and the perfect time to
-
celebrate the centenary of her birth –
-
its one hundredth anniversary!
-
We hope this upbeat programme has been just
-
what the doctor ordered.
-
Remember to join us again soon at 6 Minute English.
-
Bye for now!
-
Goodbye!
