Submitted by Rosemary Parkinson
I am in awe of Barbadian Mr. Sisnett and wish him even a longer life….watching him on TV doing his little exercises brought tears to my eyes, hearing him speak and seeing his smile so wide and beautiful was truly wonderful. At 111 years old I so wanted to find out from him what his diet was like through the years….but I was told that I could not document Mr. Sisnett ’cause ‘someone else’ was doing it. But I have thought about him a lot.
Now I see in The Nation two scientists are here to take samples of his blood and his family in order to study his and their longevity. Perhaps these scientists will discover what I already feel I know…his diet has kept him healthy and strong…the old time way of eating built up his immune system. Bet he did not fill himself up with fast or processed foods out of the U.S. Bet he did not have a farm that sprayed Monsanto products all over the soil and planted GMO seeds so his family could have ‘fresh’ food on the table. But then I am only speculating.
Perhaps these scientists will discover all of the above, tell all the companies producing GMO’s up there…! Ha! Like they will take heed. Perhaps the pharmaceutical people will ignore their findings or sell their genes in a pill that will promise longevity and make millions of dollars more on it. Of course those pills will probably have some corn syrup in them, perhaps a touch of grain just to make things a little better for their brothers in the funeral business.
I hope our researchers (and we have great ones often not thought of in Jamaica, Trinidad and I would imagine here although they seem to be quiet silent on certain matters like what is inside our animal feed for instance) will be looking into Mr. Sisnett’s longevity so that perhaps we in the Caribbean can fully understand why our ‘young’ people are dying of non-communicable diseases so readily these days! …and then do something about it for us. Just for us!
Although this is a slightly different story…I thought it might be apt to place it here….sent to me by a dear friend in Jamaica:
The Immortal Cells of Henrietta Lacks
Henrietta and David Lacks, circa 1945, standing side by side (
By Lauren Monsen
Staff Writer
Washington — Through a quirk of fate, an unassuming African-American woman who died of cancer in 1951 became the source of a cell line that has been cultivated for 60 years in laboratories worldwide, contributing to cancer research and medical milestones such as the polio vaccine, cloning, genetic testing and in vitro fertilization.
Today, HeLa cells — named after their donor, Henrietta Lacks — “are the most commonly used cells in research labs all around the world; they’re used in every country where people do research on cells,” according to Rebecca Skloot, author of the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
Skloot said Henrietta Lacks’ story is important not only because of the lives affected by the HeLa cell line, but also because it raises questions about economic justice and scientific ethics.
THE FIRST IMMORTAL HUMAN CELL LINE
Lacks was a tobacco farmer and the wife of a shipyard worker in Baltimore County, Maryland, when she was diagnosed with a malignant cervical tumor at age 30. During her treatment, doctors at Johns Hopkins University Hospital removed a sample of her cancerous cells for research. The cells were removed without her knowledge or consent, a common practice at the time. Lacks died in the “colored” ward of the hospital at age 31, leaving five children.
Her story didn’t end there. Using Lacks’ cells, which continued to multiply, researchers succeeded in establishing for the first time an “immortal” human cell line grown in laboratory culture (in previous experiments, human cells grown in culture would die after a certain period of time). “I’ve talked to countless scientists about HeLa, and none could explain why Henrietta’s cells grew so powerfully when others didn’t,” said Skloot.
It would be difficult to overestimate the cells’ critical role in ongoing research, she added. “Since the ’50s, if researchers wanted to figure out how cells behaved in a certain environment, or reacted to a specific chemical, they’ve turned to HeLa cells,” Skloot said. The cell line grew faster and thus produced results faster; “it’s hardy, it’s inexpensive, and it’s everywhere.” HeLa cells have helped scientists understand cellular function and human genetics, and develop treatments for many diseases.
Neither the doctors who retrieved the cells nor scientist George Gey, who created the cell line from Lacks’ tissue sample, sought or received financial gain. Lacks’ descendants have not been compensated. The HeLa cells, however, have been enormously profitable for pharmaceutical and research firms.
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