Nexus - 1703 - New Times Magazine-pages

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well as for cancer virus research when viruses are moved between various species of animals and sometimes adapted to human cells. This is basically what scientists were doing in the War on Cancer throughout the 1970s, the period right before the AIDS epidemic erupted in 1981 (see my book AIDS and the Doctors of Death). For more information, simply Google the key words "dangerous lateral gene transfer". children in research without informed consent. And well as for cancer virus research when viruses are moved hough the cells have launched a multibillion-dollar | between various species of animals and sometimes industry that sells human biological materials, her adapted to human cells. This is basically what amily never saw any of the profits. scientists were doing in the War on Cancer throughout Eric Roston, reviewer for the Washington Post (31 the 1970s, the period right before the AIDS epidemic anuary 2010), noted: "Nearly 60 years later, Lacks's erupted in 1981 (see my book AIDS and the Doctors of issue has yielded an estimated 50 million metric tons Death). For more information, simply Google the key of HeLa cells. Scientific and medical researchers add __ words "dangerous lateral gene transfer". about 300 HeLa-related studies a month to the library of 60,000 studies. Lacks's surviving family members __ HeLa cell research: science or scientific madness? ave learned what was going on—and have become Having graduated from medical school a half-century subjects of interest for researchers, too." ago, | am disillusioned with my chosen profession. | In a New York Times review (5 February 2010), Lisa — spent 40 years researching the bacterial cause of cancer Margonelli wrote: "After Henrietta Lacks's death, HeLa and showing bacteria in cancer tissue, where, according went viral, so to speak, becoming the godmother of _ to the cancer experts, there aren't supposed to be any. virology and then biotech, benefiting practically anyone _‘ This research sparked little, if any, interest among my who's ever taken a pill stronger than aspirin... HeLahas colleagues. | spent a quarter-century trying to alert helped build thousands of careers, not to mention more people to the evidence that AIDS is a man-made than 60,000 scientific studies, with nearly 10 more being disease, with no response from the AIDS experts who published every day, revealing educate people about HIV the secrets of everything from coming out of the African jungle aging and cancer to mosquito o cause AIDS. mating and the cellular effects To use HeLa cells as a What do | really think about of working in sewers. "Deborah . HeLa cells? HeLa cells are {Henrietta’s daughter] becomes foundation, a cornerstone, cancerous cells (infected with a the book's driving force, as 1 nown cancer-causing Skloot joins her in her ‘lifelong a template, Upon which papilloma virus) to which was struggle to make peace with the to base viral studies strikes added the blood from a human existence of those cells, and the ‘ placenta, ground-up beef cattle science that made them me as Viral voodoo. embryo and chicken plasma possible’. To find the mother extracted from the blood of a she never got to know, she read ive chicken heart. This is a hundreds of articles about concoction that | would expect HeLa research, which led her to believe that her mother from someone practising witchcraft, not good science. was ‘eternally suffering’ from all the experiments To use HeLa cells as a foundation, a cornerstone, a performed on her cells." template, upon which to base viral studies strikes me as viral voodoo. a template, upon which to base viral studies strikes Horizontal gene transfer: gene swapping among life-forms While HeLa cells were spreading around the world and contaminating cell cultures, there was little appreciation of how life-forms related to one another. Scientists now have a better knowledge of how viruses can "recombine" with other viruses. Viruses can also infect bacteria as well as human cells. Over the past two decades, molecular scientists have become more and more aware of the back and forth gene-swapping between and among various species of life, from the smallest forms up to the largest. The process is known as “horizontal gene transfer". We are familiar with "vertical gene transfer", whereby the offspring of an organism inherits genes from its parent. Horizontal gene transfer in cancer and vaccine research is a serious hazard because genetic engineering experiments allow the spread of dangerous transgenic DNA from species to species. This has tremendous implications for theories of evolution, as How can an infected cell culture like HeLa possibly help in cancer and vaccine research? Except to spread the known and unknown viruses, mycoplasma, bacteria and God only knows what other potentially infectious agents are contained within Henrietta's cells and the new species Helacyton gartleri. The legacy of Henrietta Lacks In all my research for this article, the one bit of reading that made more sense to me than any other was provided by an anonymous blogger who posted comments on the Baltimore Sun website (1 February 2010; reproduced here with minor editing) regarding Rebecca Skloot's new book: "A complete and total injustice was done to her family to obtain these cells, and now some crazy cancer cells that KILLED her are IN US ALL. That's right: if you have ever gotten a vaccine, you got a little HeLa in you. 30 * NEXUS APRIL - MAY 2010 To use HeLa cells as a foundation, a cornerstone, me as viral voodoo. Continued on page 80 www.nexusmagazine.com