This doesn’t sound like a big medical case or something to be still talking about decades later. Treated with radium tubes after a biopsy revealed carcinoma, Lacks would eventually succumb to her disease and died later the same year she was diagnosed. Born in a time when research was whatever someone wanted it to be and patients especially women were not consulted or even thought of to consult on matters such as research participation, Henrietta Lacks found herself ill in the halls of Johns Hopkins. What many people did not know before the early 2000s was that one woman was to thank for these incredibly important cells… Henrietta Lacks. These cells (though no longer) were the first immortal cell lines that could not only quickly grow in culture but were adaptable. They’ve given oncologists better understanding of cancer and been part of cloning and in vitro fertilization work. They’ve helped test polio vaccines and study hemophilia and Parkinson’s. These cells have found their way into every corner of medical research since they were introduced to the world in the 1950s. In the world of science, 4 letters are more well known than almost any other outside of the periodic table: HeLa. At one time in life I thought I would be a scientist, held up in a lab for days on end working on this or that. Since the day I first heard the name Henrietta Lacks I was drawn in and instantly enamored with her. Or even those who become leaders and don’t even know it. Leaders (and also some followers who haphazardly become leaders) who, though not loud or boisterous, flashy or well-bred, find themselves in a place of influence over the annals of history. But there are also those leaders who influence quietly or in less obvious ways to the majority of society. If you are ruling a kingdom or holding a seat in office, you know that your leadership and status can exact influence over others. Influence is one of those things that can be both intentional and also completely unintentional. Leadership is Influence…John Maxwell (and probably a few dozen other people) said that.
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