For Henrietta Lacks’ famous cells, new and unique protection

By Sharon Begley NEW YORK (Reuters) – Information about the most famous and valuable human cells in the history of science is about to become a little harder for researchers to get. The National Institutes of Health announced on Wednesday that it had reached an agreement with the family of the late Henrietta Lacks, the African-American woman whose cancer cells scientists took without her permission 62 years ago and used to create an endlessly replicating cell line now used in countless labs worldwide. …