S.1893

The Henrietta Lacks Congressional Gold Medal Act awards a Congressional Gold Medal to Henrietta Lacks posthumously for her immortal cells'.

The Henrietta Lacks Congressional Gold Medal Act honors Henrietta Lacks, an African-American woman whose immortal cells, known as HeLa cells, have significantly advanced medical research and global health. These cells, taken without her consent during her cancer treatment in 1951, have contributed to the development of the polio vaccine, treatments for cancer, HIV/AIDS, hemophilia, leukemia, and Parkinson’s disease, and research on radiation and zero gravity effects on human cells.