HeLa

Henrietta Lacks

AMERICAN MEDICAL PATIENT

WRITTEN BY: 

• The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

LAST UPDATED: Jul 28, 2019 See Article History

Alternative Title: Loretta Pleasant

Henrietta Lacks, née Loretta Pleasant, (born August 1, 1920, Roanoke, Virginia, U.S.—died October 4, 1951, Baltimore, Maryland), American woman whose cervical cancer cells were the source of the HeLa cell line, research on which contributed to numerous important scientific advances./.../