Researched
Cell culture and HeLa cells
Growing human cells outside the body: in 1951 George Gey's HeLa line became the first human cells to divide indefinitely in a dish.
Open in the interactive tree →The cells came from Henrietta Lacks's cervical tumour, taken without her knowledge, and were used to test the polio vaccine and to study viruses and cancer. Her family's story led to stricter consent rules and to a 2013 agreement on access to HeLa genome data.
Prerequisites
- Cell theory1838
- Hygiene and antisepsis1867
- Antibiotics1928
Unlocks
- Polio vaccines1955
- Telomeres and the Hayflick limit1961-1985
- Monoclonal antibodies1975Hybridoma cells must be grown and kept alive in culture to make antibodies
- In vitro fertilisation1978
- HIV identified1983
- Cloning (Dolly the sheep)1996Dolly came from a cultured udder cell
- Induced pluripotent stem cells2006Reprogramming starts from ordinary skin cells grown in culture
- Organoids and Organ-Chips2009–2025Organoids extend cell culture from flat dishes to three-dimensional tissue
- CAR-T cell therapy2017A patient's T cells are grown and engineered in culture before being returned
- Cultivated meat2020
Sources
More in Biology & Genetics · Atomic & Space Age
- Honeybee dance language decoded1946-1967
- Structure of DNA1953
- Songbirds learn their songs1954-1970
- First protein structure1958
- Gene regulation (operon)1961
- Telomeres and the Hayflick limit1961-1985
- The genetic code1966
- Endosymbiosis1967