In Vitro Techniques for Studying the Normal Breast and the Use of Cell Lines in Breast Cancer Research

Abstract

In the early history of cell culture, researchers such as Alexis Carrel were faced with many obstacles, the most imperative being contamination and an incomplete understanding of the nutrients cells that require to survive. George Gey worked to establish the study of human cells in culture by first perfecting grown medium and sterile technique [1]. The most significant contribution of Gey’s lab to the history of cell culture came in February of 1951, when a biopsy was taken from Henrietta Lacks, an American tobacco farmer suffering from cervical cancer, and from which the HeLa cell line was originated. Gey’s lab had been trying to establish tissue cultures of both normal and malignant, or otherwise diseased, cells for use in their research [2]. Despite initial concerns that the cells would eventually die, as had the cells of their previous efforts, they found that these HeLa cells grew extremely fast, filling the space they occupied, doubling in number every 24 h and accumulating by the millions [1]. The HeLa cell line grew robustly, becoming the first human cancer cell line immortalized in tissue culture [1, 2]. The HeLa, Hela, or hela cell line, is not only the oldest human cell line in culture, but also the most common [2]. Apart from the intention of using these cells to eradicate cancer, the cell line’s characteristics made it essential in numerous other research efforts. The HeLa cell line was first notably used in the 1950s by Jonas Salk to test the first polio vaccine. Since then, the cell line has been used in a wide variety of research such as, cancer, AIDS, TB, gene mapping, cloning, in vitro fertilization, nanotechnology, the study of toxic agents, and more [1, 2].