When HeLa cells were first derived, most of the benefits weren't even on the radar.
Excuse me? It was the first human cell line that could grow in culture indefinitely. Doctors and researchers immediately recognized the potential of HeLa cells. It took less than three years before the cells were used to mass-produce Jonas Salk's polio vaccine.
I am not exaggerating when I say that millions of people today owe their lives to HeLa. Had doctors been forced to do what you call ethical, those people would be dead. With so many lives at stake, the objections of the family (or the individual) simply don't matter.
For example: why do we know her name? This alone should never have happened.
Originally she was anonymized. Later, researchers wanted to get genetic information from her living relatives. Somehow the press found out. Perhaps a relative told them.
Excuse me? It was the first human cell line that could grow in culture indefinitely. Doctors and researchers immediately recognized the potential of HeLa cells. It took less than three years before the cells were used to mass-produce Jonas Salk's polio vaccine.
I am not exaggerating when I say that millions of people today owe their lives to HeLa. Had doctors been forced to do what you call ethical, those people would be dead. With so many lives at stake, the objections of the family (or the individual) simply don't matter.
For example: why do we know her name? This alone should never have happened.
Originally she was anonymized. Later, researchers wanted to get genetic information from her living relatives. Somehow the press found out. Perhaps a relative told them.