# What's going on with HeLa cells? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 28, 2006, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-hela-cells/382064 "2006-11-28T13:36:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-hela-cells/382064/1 "2006-11-28T13:36:07Z")
Has anyone figured out why these cells are so aggressive? I’ve heard that they can grow on dry lab benches without any problem. How did the gene transfer from HPV cause the cells to make so many extra copies of certain chromosomes, and why weren’t the other chromosomes affected? Has a similar type of cancer ever been found in another person? ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-hela-cells/382064/2 "2006-11-28T20:45:26Z")
What are HeLa cells? Can you explain some background of what you are talking about? ---
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-hela-cells/382064/3 "2006-11-28T21:01:47Z")
[Wiki.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HeLa) ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2006, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-hela-cells/382064/4 "2006-11-28T22:01:35Z")
[QUOTE=Omega Glory] Has anyone figured out why these cells are so aggressive? I’ve heard that they can grow on dry lab benches without any problem. How did the gene transfer from HPV cause the cells to make so many extra copies of certain chromosomes, and why weren’t the other chromosomes affected? Has a similar type of cancer ever been found in another person? [/QUOTE] Maybe a microbiologist will come by and give us a clue or two. Seems like a clean, dry surface of any kind would not be a suitable propagating environment. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-hela-cells/382064/5 "2006-11-29T00:09:36Z")
Wow that is amazing. Actually kind of scary… ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-hela-cells/382064/6 "2006-11-29T00:40:09Z")
HeLa cells just give me the creeps. Essentially the cells of a human being have given up multicellurality and become protozoans. It’s like people could just…melt…into piles of goo that decide to go their own way, like slime molds. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-hela-cells/382064/7 "2006-11-29T00:41:00Z")
The key phrase in the Wikipedia article is “citation needed”. In other words, no one has demonstrated that HeLa cells can survive on dry glassware for any significant period of time, never mind propagating on lab benches.\* What’s a likelier scenario is a few cells contaminating the hands of whoever is manipulating cell cultures (i.e. changing the growing medium, seeding new flasks etc.) and accidentally falling into other cell cultures and overgrowing those cell types. \*I never tried swabbing the benches in our virology lab to see if there was a coating of HeLa cells, but this sounds like laboratory urban legend. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-hela-cells/382064/8 "2006-11-29T05:47:42Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] HeLa cells just give me the creeps. Essentially the cells of a human being have given up multicellurality and become protozoans. It’s like people could just…melt…into piles of goo that decide to go their own way, like slime molds. [/QUOTE] On the other hand, it’s the closest any of us will come to immortality in our own cells. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2006, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-going-on-with-hela-cells/382064/9 "2006-11-29T14:00:56Z")
[QUOTE=Jackmannii] What’s a likelier scenario is a few cells contaminating the hands of whoever is manipulating cell cultures (i.e. changing the growing medium, seeding new flasks etc.) and accidentally falling into other cell cultures and overgrowing those cell types. [/QUOTE] Yes, that does make more sense. Thanks.