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WHO Honors the Legacy and Contribution of Henrietta Lacks

XTalks

The cell line, called HeLa, laid the foundation for many groundbreaking discoveries, including vaccines for the human papilloma virus (HPV) and polio; drugs for HIV and cancers; gene mapping; IVF treatment; and more recently, for crucial COVID-19 research. Fittingly, it was also used to develop the vaccine against cervical cancer.