Many companies and organizations world-wide were scrambling to get their hands on these HeLa cells. Military tested them in containers by radiation, mice where sent into space to see what zero gravity would do to the human tissue, and even make up companies where buying and testing their products on them. The biggest break through however, happened when polio became and epidemic and they used Henrietta's cells to actually come up with a vaccination to it. Once they were able to do this that's when they thought that they might have the ability to find the cure for cancer right there in front of them, within the HeLa cells. .
While the cells that were taken from Henrietta Lacks has made many contributions to the world of science and medicine, there are many ethical principles that were violated along the way. One of the biggest issues that violated ethics was the second the cancerous cells were removed and cultivated from Henrietta's body without her consent and used in various experiments that would not even save her life to begin with. Second, is the fact that even though she later died they still did not consult the family and ask for permission to keep experimenting with the cells taken and started to sell and distribute them to other companies and organizations. The family did not receive any acknowledgement of this nor did they gain any proceeds or profit from their mother cells at all. Many feel that this happened because of the fact that no one might now want the HeLa cells if they knew that they came from and African American woman. Sense at that time the black community was still treated harshly. .
Another part of the experiment that just does not seem ethical at all would be the fact that the scientists set up testing's at a maximum security prison in Ohio, and injecting the HeLa cells into the prisoners bodies underneath their skin was wrong. They did this not knowing what exactly would happen to them, and just wanted to know if the cells would spread as if they were contagious.