Immortal+body+Cells

Immortal cell lines are unique cell lines, which do not die. [1] Given that, they have high cell division rates, they are useful in scientific researches involving tissue culture and development of various vaccines. [1] The most important immortal cell line is the human HeLa cells, which were first observed to survive when cultured. [1] HeLa is a name derived from Henrietta Lacks, a black woman who died in 1951 from malignant cervical cancer at a young age of 31. [1] Her cervical cancer responded to neither radiation therapy nor surgical removal of the tumour cells in her cervix. [1] Surprisingly, although she was dead, it was established within the eight month of her death that part of her cancerous cells was alive and they used telomerase enzyme to repair most of their DNA molecules with aberrations. [1] That incident brought a major revolution in the field of laboratory cell and tissue culture, which at that time was frustrating. [1] A HeLa cell lines are the most widely used of the available continuous cell lines in virology. [1]
 * Immortal cells (HeLa):**

Figure 1: A typical HeLa cell dividing where the green lines indicates the chromosomes cell, from Cantwell (2010). [1] Although immortal cells, especially HeLa cells, are an important drug development in scientific discoveries, handling them in a laboratory setting is remarkably challenging. [1] HeLa cells have been found to persistently contaminate cell cultures of other immortal non-HeLa cell lines. [1] HeLa cells are responsible for contamination of the following cell lines: intestinal epithelium, normal liver, laryngeal cancer, normal amnion and cancer. [1] It is still a challenge today's tissue cell cultures in medical virology. [1]
 * Immortal cell contamination(HeLa):**

By YongMin KIM Last edited 11/11/2011


 * References:**

[1] Cantwell, A. (2010). //Immortal HeLa Cells: And The Countinuing Contamination of Cancer// //and vaccine Research.// Available: [] [2011, 18/10/2011]