George Gey's Pioneering Work with HeLa Cells

Key Economic Insight

On April 10, 1951, George Gey appeared on Baltimore television, discussing his cancer research and the mystery of how normal cells transform into cancerous ones. He provided a basic overview of cell structure and cancer, demonstrating cell movement and the explosive division of a single cancer cell into five. Gey showcased a pint-sized bottle, likely containing Henrietta's cells, explaining his lab's use of these cells to discover methods for damaging or eliminating cancer cells. He explicitly stated that 'from fundamental studies such as these' a way to wipe out cancer might be learned.

Gey then began distributing Henrietta's cells to scientists worldwide for cancer research, a novel practice for live cells at the time. He employed innovative shipping methods via plane; pilots or stewards often kept tubes in shirt pockets for body temperature, while cargo shipments were packed in ice within sawdust-filled boxes to prevent overheating. Gey would alert recipients that cells were about to 'metastasize' to their cities. HeLa cells reached researchers in Texas, India, New York, Amsterdam, and even the mountains of Chile via pack mules. Gey personally carried tubes of cells in his breast pocket while traveling to demonstrate culturing techniques, and he provided vials of HeLa to scientists who visited his lab to learn these methods, affectionately calling them his 'precious babies'.

The immense value of Henrietta's cells lay in their ability to facilitate experiments impossible on living humans. Scientists exposed HeLa cells to countless toxins, radiation, infections, and drugs in search of agents that could kill malignant cells without harming normal ones. They also injected HeLa cells into immune-compromised rats, leading to the development of malignant tumors, to study immune suppression and cancer growth. The critical advantage was the 'eternally growing HeLa stock,' allowing experiments to continue even if cells died. Despite this groundbreaking research, the public remained largely unaware, as Gey did not mention Henrietta or the cells by name during his television appearance, and public trust in cell culture was already low due to decades of unfulfilled promises.