There is a super power DISCOVERED by science.
On February 8, 1951 Dr. Howard W. Jones took a sample of cervix cells from a woman who had cervical cancer. Without her knowledge, researchers decided to keep those cells alive and cultivate them to investigate the nature of her tumor. The woman died in several months after that, on October 4. Her name was Henrietta Lacks.
Four years later those cells became the first successfully cloned human cells. What was unusual about them, they didn’t behave like any other human tissue. Dr. George Gey propagated the cell line and started using it in a cancer research.
The abnormality discovered in that cell line was its inability to age. Most of the cells can divide only a limited number of times before they become senescent, but HeLa cells didn’t obey those laws. Given basic conditions required for cell’s survival, they were able to multiply at a staggering speed as long as those conditions were met. In other words, they were immortal.
Later HeLa cells were used for research on cancer, AIDS, the effects of radiation and toxic substances and gene mapping. Their extraordinary quick growth made it possible to produce enough material for experiments, which allowed, among others, to create polio vaccine quicker and make it ready for testing on patients. Tens of thousands of medical discoveries were made and millions of people were saved by this superpower demonstrated by a small sample of human tissue.
There’s a saying that not all heroes wear capes. In this case I can add that not all heroes are visible with a naked eye.
Scanning electron micrograph of just-divided HeLa cells. Source: Wikipedia
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