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Six Minute English.

From BBC Learning English.

com.

Hello, this is six minute English from BBC learning English. I'm Rob and I'm Georgina.

What do Vincent van Gof and Galileo Galilee have in common Georgina.

Mm, their first name and last names both start with the same letter?

Well, that's true.

But another similarity is that their amazing contributions to art and science were only

recognized after their death.

I know another person whose huge contribution to science went unrecognized during her lifetime Rob.

But unlike Van Gogh or Galileo, you probably haven't heard of her.

She's the subject of this program.

Henrietta Lax was a young black American mother who died of cancer in Baltimore in 1951.

Although she never consented to her tissues being used for medical research,

doctors at the time found her cells to have an extraordinary ability to replace themselves

endlessly.

Named healer cells after her initials, Henrietta lacks tissue help make possible all sorts of medical breakthroughs

from the polio vaccine to cancer drugs to HIV and IV treatments.

Born 100 years ago in 1920, the great-great-granddaughter of slaves, Henrietta and

her cells continue to provide medical discoveries to this day.

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