# Total mass of HeLa cells?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-mass-of-hela-cells/564187>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 15, 2010, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-mass-of-hela-cells/564187 "2010-12-15T02:31:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\
**Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-mass-of-hela-cells/564187/1 "2010-12-15T02:31:25Z")

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What do you think(or have some rough data on) the total mass of Henrietta Lacks legacy is?

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**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\
**Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-mass-of-hela-cells/564187/2 "2010-12-15T03:40:30Z")

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20 tons:

> **[Henrietta Lacks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrietta_Lacks)**
>
> Henrietta Lacks (born Loretta Pleasant; August 1, 1920 – October 4, 1951) was an African-American woman whose cancer cells are the source of the HeLa cell line, the first immortalized human cell line\[A\] and one of the most important cell lines in medical research. An immortalized cell line reproduces indefinitely under specific conditions, and the HeLa cell line continues to be a source of invaluable medical data to the present day.
> Lacks was the unwitting source of these cells from a tumor...

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**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\
**Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-mass-of-hela-cells/564187/3 "2010-12-15T04:18:06Z")

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According to the book (excerpt [here](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/03/books/excerpt-immortal-life-of-henrietta-lacks.html)), one scientist estimates _50 million metric tons_.

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**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\
**Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-mass-of-hela-cells/564187/4 "2010-12-15T05:04:37Z")

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That is AMAZING!

Thanks!

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**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\
**Post date:** [December 15, 2010, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/total-mass-of-hela-cells/564187/5 "2010-12-15T06:12:07Z")

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And [highly improbable](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=12303112#post12303112).