Henrietta Lacks’ ‘Immortal’ Cells
A Microscopic View of Henrietta Lacks’ ‘Immortal’ Cells
HeLa cells were the first immortal human cells ever grown in culture and are invaluable to medical researchers
In the image:
1. A HeLa cancer cell dividing.
2. The metaphase stage of a human HeLa cell division.
3. Subspecies of HeLa cells have evolved in labs and some feel that the cell line is no longer human, but a new microbial life form. These nuclei are shown in green the cytoplasm is red and structures within the cytoplasm are blue. internal darker zones are the nucleoli.
4. The prophase stage of mitosis in the division of these human HeLa cells.
5. This fluorescence micrograph of a HeLa cell shows the cytoskeletal microfilaments in red and nuclei stain with Hoechst in blue.
Nancy Kedersha / Science Faction / Corbis
(Source: smithsonianmag.com)
The Scripps Research Institute - La Jolla, California, USA
Specimen: Differentiating neuronal cells (actin, microtubules and DNA) (1000x)
