--- title: "Henrietta Lacks’ Family Is Finally Getting Paid by the Biotech Company That Stole Her Cells" description: "Henrietta Lacks' family has won a settlement from Thermo Fisher Scientific, the biotech firm that made billions by selling Lacks' cells." date: "2023-08-04" modified: "2023-08-04" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/henrietta-lacks-family-biotech-company-stole-cells" categories: - "Gene Editing" - "Genetics" - "Health & Medicine" tags: - "genetics" - "hela cells" - "henrietta lacks" - "racial justice" --- # Henrietta Lacks’ Family Is Finally Getting Paid by the Biotech Company That Stole Her Cells ![Henrietta Lacks' family has won a settlement from Thermo Fisher Scientific, the biotech firm that made billions by selling Lacks' cells.]() *\Image: Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post via Getty Images\* It's a big day for genetic justice. More than 70 years after Henrietta Lacks' cells were first harvested without her or her family's consent, [*The New York Times* reports]() that the Lacks family and the biotech firm finally reached a settlement on Monday. It [all started back in 1951]() when Lacks, a Black mother of five and resident of Baltimore, sought treatment for cervical cancer in a [segregated ward]() of Johns Hopkins University's hospital. The just 31-year-old Lacks would tragically die of the disease that same year, but before she passed, doctors harvested a string of Lacks' cancer cells and passed them along to university researchers — without their patient's express knowledge or permission. To the researchers' surprise, the cells were doing something pretty unusual: rather than dying off, they were continuing to multiply. This cell line, which came to be known as "HeLa" cells, were the first cells ever witnessed to replicate outside of the human body. They also represent a critical turning point in modern medicine and have been essential to the discovery and development of [various medical treatments and pharmaceuticals]() including polio and coronavirus vaccines, cancer treatments, IVF therapies, HIV/AIDS medicines, and more. It wasn't until 1973 that Lacks' family discovered what her cells were being used for. "These cells were taken from her body like she was a lab rat in an experiment," Lacks' granddaughter Kim Lack [told *CBS-affiliated* radio station *WJZ*]() last year. "No one even reached out to the family to let them know." Meanwhile, a pharmaceutical company called Thermo Fisher Scientific has made extensive use of Lacks' cells. Finally, in 2021, Lacks' descendants [sued Thermo Fisher]() on grounds that the firm chose to "embrace a legacy of racial injustice embedded in the US research and medical systems" by continuing to "sell HeLa cells in spite of the cell lines' origin and the concrete harms it inflicts on the Lacks family." In its motion to have the suit dismissed, Thermo Fisher [argued]() that the statute of limitations had expired. The Lacks family, however, contended that these limits don't apply since the company kept profiting financially off the sale of these cells. "We believe that every time they regenerate or profit off of Henrietta Lacks' genetic materials," the family's lawyer and known civil rights attorney Ben Crump told *CBS,* it "starts the statute of limitations to accrue again." Per the *NYT*, the settlement was handed down on what would have been Lacks' 103rd birthday. "It could not have been a more fitting day for her to have justice and for her family to have relief," Alfred Lacks Carter Jr., one of Lacks' grandsons, told the *NYT*. "It was a long fight, over 70 years, and Henrietta Lacks gets her day." The nature of the settlement has been kept pretty tight under wraps, but considering Thermo Fisher's deep pockets and the breadth of use of HeLa cells, we can only imagine how much it was worth. And the firm, for its part, seems to have had very little to say. “The parties are pleased that they were able to find a way to resolve this matter outside of Court and will have no further comment," Thermo Fisher wrote in a statement to the *NYT.* But according to the Lacks family's attorneys, the fight may be far from over. "The fight against those who profit, and chose to profit off the deeply unethical and unlawful history and origins of the HeLa cells will continue," Chris Ayers, another lawyer for the family, told the *NYT.* "If we can get justice for Henrietta Lacks," Crump [told *The Baltimore Banner*](), "maybe we can start to tear down the layers of medical racism that exist even to this day." *Updated to clarify that Thermo Fisher did not originally harvest Lacks' cells.* **More on Henrietta Lacks:** [*WHO Honors Woman Whose Cells Were Taken Without Consent for Medical Research*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()