The Last Immortals
The cell lines they need are “immortal”—they can grow indefinitely, be frozen for decades, divided into different batches and shared among scientists. In 1. 95. 1, a scientist at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, created the first immortal human cell line with a tissue sample taken from a young black woman with cervical cancer. Those cells, called He. La cells, quickly became invaluable to medical research—though their donor remained a mystery for decades. In her new book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, journalist Rebecca Skloot tracks down the story of the source of the amazing He.
La cells, Henrietta Lacks, and documents the cell line's impact on both modern medicine and the Lacks family. Who was Henrietta Lacks? She was a black tobacco farmer from southern Virginia who got cervical cancer when she was 3. A doctor at Johns Hopkins took a piece of her tumor without telling her and sent it down the hall to scientists there who had been trying to grow tissues in culture for decades without success. No one knows why, but her cells never died. Why are her cells so important?
Henrietta’s cells were the first immortal human cells ever grown in culture. They were essential to developing the polio vaccine.
They went up in the first space missions to see what would happen to cells in zero gravity. Many scientific landmarks since then have used her cells, including cloning, gene mapping and in vitro fertilization.
There has been a lot of confusion over the years about the source of He. La cells. Why? When the cells were taken, they were given the code name He. La, for the first two letters in Henrietta and Lacks. Today, anonymizing samples is a very important part of doing research on cells.
Chuck Zito, Actor: Carlito's Way. Chuck Zito was born on March 1, 1953 in The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA as Charles Zito Jr. He is known for his work on.
But that wasn’t something doctors worried about much in the 1. When some members of the press got close to finding Henrietta’s family, the researcher who’d grown the cells made up a pseudonym—Helen Lane—to throw the media off track. Other pseudonyms, like Helen Larsen, eventually showed up, too. Her real name didn’t really leak out into the world until the 1. How did you first get interested in this story?
I first learned about Henrietta in 1. I was 1. 6 and a student in a community college biology class. Everybody learns about these cells in basic biology, but what was unique about my situation was that my teacher actually knew Henrietta’s real name and that she was black. But that’s all he knew. The moment I heard about her, I became obsessed: Did she have any kids? What do they think about part of their mother being alive all these years after she died? Years later, when I started being interested in writing, one of the first stories I imagined myself writing was hers.
But it wasn’t until I went to grad school that I thought about trying to track down her family. How did you win the trust of Henrietta’s family?
Part of it was that I just wouldn’t go away and was determined to tell the story. It took almost a year even to convince Henrietta’s daughter, Deborah, to talk to me. I knew she was desperate to learn about her mother. So when I started doing my own research, I’d tell her everything I found. I went down to Clover, Virginia, where Henrietta was raised, and tracked down her cousins, then called Deborah and left these stories about Henrietta on her voice mail.
Because part of what I was trying to convey to her was I wasn’t hiding anything, that we could learn about her mother together. After a year, finally she said, fine, let’s do this thing. When did her family find out about Henrietta’s cells? Twenty- five years after Henrietta died, a scientist discovered that many cell cultures thought to be from other tissue types, including breast and prostate cells, were in fact He.
The Last Immortal Dragon
MIDI FILE LIBRARY-E : Eagles - Hotel California: Eminem - Ass like that: Eric Clapton - I shot the sheriff. The origin of the vampire race remains a mystery. Contrary to popular belief, in the Twilight universe, vampires deviate from those of traditional myth; a.
![The Last Immortal The Last Immortal](http://a4.mzstatic.com/eu/r30/Purple4/v4/7b/7c/46/7b7c46c0-2246-61e5-9235-8204cee74b9e/screen480x480.jpeg)
La cells. It turned out that He. La cells could float on dust particles in the air and travel on unwashed hands and contaminate other cultures. It became an enormous controversy.
- Immortal Performances is a non-profit, educational, federally chartered organization, and one of the world's foremost repositories for historic, first generation.
- The Truth About Hell Are Sinners Tortured in Hell Forever? Some people are very sensitive to the thought of seeing other people suffer. Small birds, mammals, and even.
In the midst of that, one group of scientists tracked down Henrietta’s relatives to take some samples with hopes that they could use the family’s DNA to make a map of Henrietta’s genes so they could tell which cell cultures were He. La and which weren’t, to begin straightening out the contamination problem.
So a postdoc called Henrietta’s husband one day. But he had a third- grade education and didn’t even know what a cell was. The way he understood the phone call was: “We’ve got your wife. She’s alive in a laboratory.
We’ve been doing research on her for the last 2. And now we have to test your kids to see if they have cancer.” Which wasn’t what the researcher said at all. The scientists didn’t know that the family didn’t understand. From that point on, though, the family got sucked into this world of research they didn’t understand, and the cells, in a sense, took over their lives. How did they do that? This was most true for Henrietta’s daughter.
Deborah never knew her mother; she was an infant when Henrietta died. She had always wanted to know who her mother was but no one ever talked about Henrietta.
So when Deborah found out that this part of her mother was still alive she became desperate to understand what that meant: Did it hurt her mother when scientists injected her cells with viruses and toxins? Had scientists cloned her mother? And could those cells help scientists tell her about her mother, like what her favorite color was and if she liked to dance. Deborah’s brothers, though, didn’t think much about the cells until they found out there was money involved.
He. La cells were the first human biological materials ever bought and sold, which helped launch a multi- billion- dollar industry. When Deborah’s brothers found out that people were selling vials of their mother’s cells, and that the family didn’t get any of the resulting money, they got very angry. Henrietta’s family has lived in poverty most of their lives, and many of them can’t afford health insurance. One of her sons was homeless and living on the streets of Baltimore.
So the family launched a campaign to get some of what they felt they were owed financially. It consumed their lives in that way. What are the lessons from this book? For scientists, one of the lessons is that there are human beings behind every biological sample used in the laboratory. So much of science today revolves around using human biological tissue of some kind.
For scientists, cells are often just like tubes or fruit flies—they’re just inanimate tools that are always there in the lab. The people behind those samples often have their own thoughts and feelings about what should happen to their tissues, but they’re usually left out of the equation. And for the rest of us? The story of He. La cells and what happened with Henrietta has often been held up as an example of a racist white scientist doing something malicious to a black woman. But that’s not accurate.
The real story is much more subtle and complicated. What is very true about science is that there are human beings behind it and sometimes even with the best of intentions things go wrong. One of the things I don’t want people to take from the story is the idea that tissue culture is bad. So much of medicine today depends on tissue culture. HIV tests, many basic drugs, all of our vaccines—we would have none of that if it wasn’t for scientists collecting cells from people and growing them. And the need for these cells is going to get greater, not less.
Instead of saying we don’t want that to happen, we just need to look at how it can happen in a way that everyone is OK with.
They are immortal beings who feed and survive on the blood of humans or animals. Though generally not thought as supernatural, humans might also be classified as such; vampires and Children of the Moon are transformed humans (by venom and infection, respectively); shapeshifters are a human population with gifts of their own; and, occasionally, humans show gifts of their own.
Contrary to popular belief, in the Twilight universe, vampires deviate from those of traditional myth; a fact often alluded to in the series, usually for humor. For example, all vampires have refined and perfected physical features (including their scent and voice), allowing them to lure in prey. Due to the crystalline properties of their cells, when a vampire is exposed to sunlight, their body will sparkle like diamonds. For vampires who feed on human blood, their eyes reflect a deep red, as opposed to those who drink animal blood, whose eyes will reflect a medium gold color.
Vampires also possess superhuman powers, such as speed and strength. They also have incredibly keen senses and are able to hear for miles and see in total darkness. Unable to sleep, they spend all days and nights awake. After transformation, a few vampires show special abilities such as foresight or telepathy, usually a prominent personality or physical trait magnified from their human life. Most of them, however, do not. Vampires are unharmed by garlic, holy items, or wooden stakes; they have reflections and shadows, and are able to walk freely in the sunlight without being physically damaged by it. It's almost impossible to stop.
Human blood is by far the most common source and the most appealing, and subsequently the most difficult to resist. The longer a vampire abstains from blood, the more likely the vampire will lose their rationality and mental faculties until they give into their thirst, because their throats are described to be in . Although it still gives them nutrition, animal blood is less appealing to vampires. On occasion, the appeal of human blood can be so enticing that a . The only examples known are the Cullen family and the Denali coven. I've never wanted a human's blood so much in my life.
You're like my personal brand of heroin. The Volturi call these humans . To most vampires, such discovery is an experience to be savored. The strength, the speed, the acute senses, not to mention those like Edward, Jasper, and I, who have extra senses as well. And then, like a carnivorous flower, we are physically attractive to our prey. The ability to cut off airflow from their lungs allows them to remain submerged underwater for as long as they wish, and contributes greatly to their excellent swimming capabilities. Their beauty is described as angelic or even god- like.
This is one of the several features meant to attract their prey—more specifically, to attract, fascinate, and (if necessary) seduce, unsuspecting humans. How physically appealing their prey finds them is determined by how desirable they were as humans themselves. If an already attractive human were to be transformed, their physical beauty would be . If they were of average interest, their attractiveness would be lower, but still stunningly beautiful. If however they were not particularly pleasing to the eye, they would become average (as shown with James), but this is a rare occurrence, as vampires normally select exceptional humans to turn.
Regardless of original ethnicity, a vampire's skin will be exceptionally pale. The hue varies slightly, with darker- skinned humans having a barely discernible olive tone to their vampire skin, but the light shade remains the same. They owe their unnatural pale complexion to their lack of blood flow; once they reach the first anniversary of their transformation, they no longer possess blood of their own (though they still become slightly flushed after feeding). When the venom spreads, it also leeches pigment in the skin, so after the transformation is complete, the vampire loses nearly all its skin color, as well as any moles, freckles, scars, tattoos, or any other part of the skin with pigment from their human life. Their strong resemblance to marble statues rests also on their skin's granite- like appearance and impenetrability, as well as the now useless need to blink—the venom- based fluid that resides in the eyes now fulfills the function of eyelids and also lubricates the eye so that it can move easily within its sockets. The vampire also is unable to produce tears after the transformation, as tears are used to remove objects harmful to the eye, and those objects would be unable to harm a vampires eye.
A vampire may not move at all, if need be, and if they stay immobile for several thousand years, they will start showing the appearance of fragility or petrification, though their physical capabilities will remain unchanged. Aside from Aro's clouded, . However, though they feel closer to shale than granite, they are no more fragile than those remaining active. They cannot age or grow (things such as fingernails, toenails, and hair will no longer be able to grow. However, if an arm, leg, nose, or other such appendage should be removed, albeit painfully, it can be easily reattached.
Vampire venom is noted to be the only thing that scars a vampire. Since the venom is adhesive, coating the severed end with it will help it heal faster. They show no physical or mental illnesses and defects, and their voice becomes more alluring, melodic, and seductive.
Their heart no longer beats. It wets and pools in the mouth instead of saliva.
It coats the eyes, burning through contacts after only a few hours, protecting them from damage and thus eliminating all necessity and reason to produce tears. It also lubricates them, allowing them to move around more easily within their sockets. A similar venom based liquid lubricates between the vampires cells allowing their hard stone bodies to move. If a vampire were to remain motionless over thousands of years, dust will actually begin to petrify in response to the venom based liquids, turning their skin powdery and similar to shale in texture, as well as their eyes which develop a milky film over their red irises making the eyes appear pink in color. This can be seen with the ancient Volturi members. These imperfections, however, do not affect the vampires impenetrability or compromise their vision, a vampire that stays motionless would be just as indestructible and sharp as a vampire remaining active.
Requiring little or no change to produce sperm, males can still breed, while female vampires cannot; their bodies no longer accommodate the changes related to pregnancy. In male vampires, the venom takes on a form so similar to seminal fluid that it can bond with a human ovum, making possible the creation of a human- vampire hybrid. The underlying biochemistry and physiology is currently unknown.
They were wide, warm with liquid gold, framed by a thick fringe of black lashes. Staring into his eyes always made me feel extraordinary—sort of like my bones were turning spongy. I was also lightheaded, but that could have been because I'd forgotten to keep breathing. Newborn vampires show bright red eyes regardless of how long they abstain from blood, or their diet. A diet of human blood would eventually darken them to a rose red color. However, a diet of animal blood would instead dilute the eyes to a golden color. A vampire who has recently fed on animal blood will have light, honey gold eyes, while a vampire who has recently fed on human blood will have vivid crimson eyes.
All older vampires' eyes darken perceptively as they abstain from blood, until their eyes become onyx, or coal black. The process usually takes one to two weeks before the eyes are turned completely black. Their eyes are liquid topaz, or honey- gold, reflecting their diet. These eyes, however, are viewed as strange and somewhat unnatural by other vampires whose diet consist of human blood, such as James and Victoria, and whose eyes are of a vivid deep crimson, becoming even more vivid as they continue to feed on human blood, and a darker burgundy as they abstain. Both traits are caused by their own blood that still lingers within their tissues, producing the shockingly bright red eyes that . If he/she were to return to a diet of animal blood, his/her eyes would become dark gold, and a lighter golden color, if they were to continue on animal blood. In contrast, as vampires feed, their eyes become lighter.
In addition to the thirst, the purplish- black bruises under their eyes become more pronounced as their thirst grows. Though if they have recently fed the bruises becomes less noticeable, and all but disappear (depending on how well- fed they are). The bruises indicate that vampires never sleep. A vampire's teeth appear no different than regular human teeth. They do not possess fangs.
However, a vampire's teeth are flawless, unbreakable, and razor sharp at the edges. They are also incredibly strong, able to bite through almost any solid substance, including vampire skin. Their teeth are also venomous, affected by the vampire venom that flows in their mouths. According to Alice Cullen, a vampire's greatest weapon is their teeth, though they are more armed than necessary. Carlisle reveals this in Breaking Dawn while telling Jacob about their supernatural genetic relations.
While vampires have 2. Quileute shape- shifters carry 2.
Vampire hybrids are theorized to have 2. These traits vary between different vampires depending on what they were more capable of as humans. Certain vampires also develop one extra supernatural power manifested from their strongest trait as a human. They are able to run in excess of a hundred miles per hour, substantially faster than the human eye can see.
When vampires run, they become . The Quileute wolves are noted to be one of the few things that can keep up with them.
This suggests that vampires are meant to move to a new location every so often. We see the speed of all the Cullens again during the baseball game.