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For my informative Review Paper, I decided to pick the topic of how HeLa cells were a breakthrough in the field of chromosome research. Not only did scientists determine the proper number of chromosomes a human has, but they also developed techniques to visualize and discover them. I also delved into the story of HeLa cells, giving Henrietta Lacks credit where credit was due, as well as discussing the injustices many face due to racism. However, this is merely the first draft, and it lacks many crucial elements.

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Breakthrough in Chromosome Research Permanently Changes Medicine

If a single person could help save millions of lives with just their cells, the probability of
them wanting to help those lives would be extremely high. However, the question is, what if they
never had a choice? What if they were never permitted to give their cells to help those lives and
were never even made aware that they were the reason why so many people have lived? There
has been a woman who has saved millions of lives with just her cells. However, she was
unfortunately never alive to be made aware of that fact. Her name was Henrietta Lacks. The
discovery of her cells has made a breakthrough in chromosome research that has permanently
changed medicine. Henrietta Lacks cells, also known as HeLa Cells, helped advance the
techniques that scientists used to count the number of chromosomes the human cell had. There
are techniques such as fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), spectral karyotyping (SKY),
and comparative genomic hybridization (CGH); these techniques allow scientists to visualize the
human chromosomes—all thanks to the help of HeLa cells. By discovering how many
chromosomes the human cell has, scientists could diagnose disorders regarding the
chromosomes. HeLa cells continue to study the human chromosome, seeing the structure and
genetic mutations. Henrietta Lacks’s cells have improved the science field in many ways that one
might even realize.

You may wonder how Henrietta Lacks’s cells could have drastically changed science.
Unlike regular human cells, our cells eventually die after a limited number of repetitions.
Henrietta Lacks’s cells are quite peculiar because they do the opposite; her cells can replicate
rapidly and are considered immortal because they never die. HeLa cells became the most
fundamental necessity in science as her cells were in multiple medical achievements. Her cells
play massive roles in gene mapping, cancer treatments, and chromosome research development.
The discovery of how many chromosomes a human cell has was quite outstanding when it came to uncovering why there were disorders regarding chromosomes. Initially, scientists had stated that there were indeed 48 chromosomes in each cell. However, with the discovery of HeLa Cells
and the advancements of new techniques to visualize the chromosomes, scientists discovered that
there were indeed 42 chromosomes. Now, chromosomes are the structures that carry our genetic
information; chromosomes determine an individual’s physical traits, such as the color of a
person’s eye, the texture or color of their hair, and so much more. Not only do our chromosomes
carry that information, but they also carry the information about diseases we may be susceptible
to. Chromosome abnormalities are common because when our genetic information is altered,
each person has a set of two chromosomes, while people who were born as males have X and Y
chromosomes. While people who were born as females only contain X chromosomes (Masaru
Ueno, 2023).

References

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2015, September 15). NIH, lacks family reach 

understanding to share genomic data of Hela cells. National Institutes of Health. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-lacks-family-reach-understanding-share-genomic-data-hela-cells

Andrews, L. B. (n.d.). Assessing genetic risks: Implications for health and social policy. 

Implications for Health and Social Policy | The National Academies Press. https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/2057/assessing-genetic-risks-implications-for-health-and-social-policy 

Macville, M., Schröck, E., Padilla-Nash, H., Catherine Keck, B., Ghadimi, M., Zimonjic, D., 

Popescu, N., Ried, T. (1999). Comprehensive and Definitive Molecular Cytogenetic Characterization of HeLa Cells by Spectral Karyotyping. Cancer Res, 59 (1): 141–150.
https://aacrjournals.org/cancerres/article/59/1/141/505037/Comprehensive-and-Definitive-Molecular-Cytogenetic 

Ueno, M., (2023). Exploring Genetic Interactions with Telomere Protection Gene pot1 in Fission
Yeast. Biomolecules, 13(2).
http://dx.doi.org.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/10.3390/biom13020370 

Citation: O’Connor, C. (2008) Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Nature Education
1(1):171.
https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/fluorescence-in-situ-hybridization-fish-327/#Bar-Shira, A., Rosner, G., Rosner, S. et al. (2006). Array-Based Comparative Genome
Hybridization in Clinical Genetics. Pediatr Res 60, 353–358.
https://doi.org/10.1203/01.pdr.0000233012.00447.68