George Otto Gey

George Otto Gey ( ; July 6, 1899 – November 8, 1970) was an American cell biologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital who is credited with propagating the HeLa cell line from Henrietta Lacks' cervical tumor. He spent over 35 years developing numerous scientific breakthroughs under the Johns Hopkins Medical School and Hospital.

Early life and education Gey was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on July 6, 1899, the son of German immigrants Frank and Emma Gey. He had an older brother and younger sister. Gey's parents immigrated from Germany, and according to the 1910 United States census, they lived in suburban Pittsburgh.

Gey graduated from Peabody High School and received an undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Pittsburgh in 1920. He worked as a carpenter and a mason to help pay his way through college. Around 1926, he married Margaret K. (1900–1989), and they later moved to Baltimore where he would earn his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University. Gey was in medical school off and on for eight years, as he kept running out of money to pay for the tuition. The cells were used in the development of the polio vaccine, led to the first clone of a human cell, helped in the discovery that humans have 46 chromosomes, and were used to develop in vitro fertilization. By the time Gey published a short abstract claiming some credit for the development of the line, the cells were already being used by scientists all over the world.

Due to the unusual growth capabilities of the HeLa cell line, it also contaminated many cell cultures and ruined years of research, as discovered by Stanley Gartler in 1966. Because the cells were so pervasive, just one could lead to the complete takeover of a culture.

Gey Culture Medium and the Chicken Bleeding Technique Gey and his wife developed their own cell culture medium which would preserve cell lines, but their greatest obstacle was contamination. George's biology training did not prepare him for contamination issues that may arise in certain instances, so his wife Margaret was the one who educated him on this topic. A few of the medical advances achieved through the TCA include the clone growth of rodent cells, the development of time lapse cinematography, and the electron microscopic examination of cell structures.

Controversies There has been controversy surrounding how the cells were retrieved, as made famous by the book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, since the cells were taken from Henrietta Lacks without her knowledge or permission, and her family remained unaware until the 1970s. Gey was careful to keep her actual name secret, and it was not made public until after his death. George O. Gey Jr., became a cardiologist, completing his internship and residency at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.

On November 8, 1970, Gey died from pancreatic cancer in Baltimore, Maryland, less than a year after his initial diagnosis. When undergoing an emergency procedure for his cancer, doctors found that the cancer had spread to his lymph nodes, lungs and heart, thus making his cancer inoperable. Gey traveled to New York City to enroll himself in an experimental chemotherapy trial.

Legacy Gey is credited for creating the roller drum, which was essential for the development of the HeLa cell line. This machine was one of the first to help nurture cell cultures. The roller drum consisted of various holes where tissues and their appropriate growth substances were all located. The drum spun in order to mix the substances and once an hour allow the cultures to be exposed to the environment until the drum rolled again and rebathed the cells in liquid.

Gey is also noted to be one of the first to document cell division and growth on film. He devised a time lapse camera that stood twelve feet, built out of spare parts from a nearby junkyard, with a temperature controlled incubator.

An important legacy Gey left on the scientific world was his teaching. In his lab, the belief was that "the way to kill your cell cultures was by using a sloppy technique". He won the Wien Award for Cancer Cytology in 1956.