Final answer:
Dr. Grey did not personally feed cancer cells; instead, Henrietta Lacks' cancer cells (HeLa cells) were cultured in nutrient-rich media and were the first human cells to divide indefinitely in a lab. HeLa cells were key to numerous medical breakthroughs due to their resilience and survivability.
Step-by-step explanation:
Dr. Grey did not personally feed anything to the cancer cells; the reference seems to be a confusion with the work done on HeLa cells derived from Henrietta Lacks. The HeLa cells were special because they were the first human cells to survive and thrive outside the human body, dividing indefinitely when cultured in a laboratory setting. In the process of trying to keep human cells alive, researchers provided the cultured cells with a mix of nutrients and suitable conditions that would support their growth and division. Specific media compositions would have included amino acids, vitamins, glucose, and serum, among other critical nutrients required for cellular growth.
Henrietta Lacks' cells, known as HeLa cells, were extraordinary due to their hardiness and resilience. At Johns Hopkins University Hospital, where she sought treatment for her cancer, a small sample of cells from her tumor was taken without her consent and used for research. The cells from Henrietta Lacks grew on culture plates and kept dividing, which was a significant scientific breakthrough because, before HeLa cells, human cells always died before many cell divisions could occur in the lab.