Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of the cells of the first continuously cultured human carcinoma strain, originally obtained from cancerous cervical tissue and maintained for use in biomedical research.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[From the first two letters of the first and last name of Henrietta Lacks, (1920–1951), the American cancer patient from whom the cells were taken in 1951.]
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word HeLa cell.
Examples
Sorry, no example sentences found.
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.