BBC 6分钟英语学习 细胞永不死亡的女人

English from BBC Learning English. Hello.

This is six minute English from BBC Learning English.

I'm Rob and I'm Georgina. What do Vincent van Gov and Galileo Galilee have in common?

Georgina, their 1st name and last names both start with the same letter.

Well, that's true. But

another similarity is their amazing contributions to art and science were only recognized after their death.

I know another person whose huge contribution to science went unrecognised during her lifetime.

But unlike Vangulf or Galileo, you probably haven't heard of her, she's a subject of this program.

Henrietta Lax was a young black American mother who died of cancer in Baltimore in 1951.

Although she never consented to her tissues being used for medical research, doctors at the time found her cells to have an extraordinary a ability to replace themselves.

Endlessly named Healer cells after her initials, henrietta lax tissue help make its possible all sorts of medical breakthroughs, from the polio vaccine to cancer drugs to HIV and ivf treatments.

Born 100 years ago, in 19 hundred and 20, the great great granddaughter of slaves, henrietta herself continue to provide medical discoveries to this day, most recently, of course, in the race for a corona virus vaccine.

But before we go on Georgina, it's time for my quiz question.

I mentioned that Henrietta Lax was born 100 years ago, but do you know what other medical breakthrough happened in 1921?

Was it A, the discovery of insulin, B, the discovery of penicillin, or see the discovery of vitamin E?

I'll say A, the discovery of insulin.

Okay? Georgina will find out if that's right later on.

Now, it was henrietta's biography by science writer Rebecca Sclut that brought her remarkable story to the world's attention a decade ago.

Here is Rebecca Scoot explaining henrietta's importance to BBC World Service program The Forum.

So much of science is based on growing cells and culture, which started with herself in vitro fertilization.

That started with the ability to grow embryos in culture, which you can do in part thanks to herself.

So the list just goes on and on.

And right now, people are often asking, how are heless cells helping with Kovi?

Scientists work that out very quickly.

Using her cells. They figured out what the receptor looks like.

And they did the same thing with HIV, you know?

So her cells are just this incredible workforce that is at the base of so much science.

Doctors used henriettas cells to figure out, or understand how cells reproduce and divide knowledge that was vital in developing in vitro fertilization, or IVF, a technique for women who cannot become pregnant naturally, in which an egg is fertilized outside the body.

Our bodies are made of millions and millions of cells, and to understand how they work, we need to grow them in a lab.

No one had succeeded in doing this until henrietta's extraordinary cells.

We just grew and grew. This resulted not only in fertility treatments, but later in AIDS and cancer breakthroughs, which is why Rebecca refers to healer cells as a workhorse, meaning someone who does a lot of work.

But perhaps henrietta's greatest legacy of all was the vaccine for polio.

His professor of genetics, sir John Burne, talking to BBC World Services the forum, henriette would particularly like the announcement this year polio vaccine had led to the eradication of polio in Africa.

I saw the centenary of her birth.

It seems rather symbolic that her unwitting contribution to medicine eventually eradicated that scourge of mankind.

John Burne calls polio a scourge, meaning something causing much pain and suffering.

Henrietta's role in eradicating this terrible disease is all the more remarkable, as she was never asked permission to use her cells for research.

And it's taken decades to the Lax family to win their grandmother the recognition she deserves.

That's why John Burne calls henrietta's contribution unwitting.

It was made without her knowledge or consent, and with the eyes of the world now focused on vaccines for the Corona virus, this year is a symbolic time to celebrate her centenary, the 100th anniversary of an important event.

Henrietta lacks a remarkable woman whose name is finally making its way into the history books.

But something else remarkable happened 100 years ago, didn't it?

Rob Ah, yes. You mean my quiz question I asked you which important medical breakthrough occurred 100 years ago in 1921?

I said A the discovery of insulin,

which was the correct answer, discovered by Canadian doctor Frederick Banting,

insulin save the lives of millions of diabetics.

And on that healthy note, let's recapt the vocabulary from this program, starting with in vitro fertilization, or IVF, a magical technique for women who cannot become pregnant naturally.

Henrietta's Healer Cells help doctors figure out or understand a lot about how cells grow, and led to so many medical discoveries.

We might call them a workhorse, something which works extremely hard.

A scourge means something that causes much pain and suffering, like the terrible diseases which henrietta's unwitting or unknowing contribution helped eradicate, making 2021 a year of hope, and the perfect time to celebrate the centenary of a birth.

It's 100th anniversary. We hope this upbeat program has been just what the doctor ordered.

Remember to join us again soon at six minute English.

Bye for now. Goodbye.

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