Lacks

Lacks is the third-person singular present tense of the verb lack, meaning to be without or not have something. It is used to describe absence or insufficiency, as in statements like “The report lacks sufficient data.” The form is common in English grammar and writing.

Lacks is also a surname. It is found in English-speaking countries and among populations with roots in those regions. The most widely known bearer of the name is Henrietta Lacks (1920–1951), whose cancer cells were taken without her knowledge and later used to establish the HeLa cell line, a foundational resource in biomedical research. HeLa cells enabled numerous discoveries and advances in medicine, genetics, and vaccine development. The circumstances of the cell line’s origin raised important discussions about informed consent, patient rights, and the ethics of using human biological materials in research. The HeLa lineage and the Lacks family have been the subject of scholarly and popular attention, including the 2010 book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

Beyond Henrietta, Lacks appears as a surname in public records and documentation, but it does not denote a widely recognized concept or institution on its own. The term’s use in everyday language remains as the verb form, while as a proper noun it marks family identity for individuals bearing the name.