The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks By Rebecca Skloot
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks overviews the story of a young black woman who dies a painful death duo to an aggressive invasive type of cervical cancer, something doctors were currently studying and developing way to combat it. Rebecca Skloot, the author, takes us to journey to see through the eyes of the Lacks family. Many would call what was done to them unfair, but as Skloot lets us know, this was common practice (and still is in many cases) during that time. The important thing was that the ignorance of who was responsible for the cells that we call “immortal,” the cells that have given us a “Rosetta stone” for medical research, is now diminish, this was especially important to the Lacks. The book focuses mainly on the story of Henrietta’s …show more content…
Rebecca uncovers that when Henrietta received treatment for cancer, a sample tissue was cut from the tumor growing in her cervix without Henerietta’s knowledge. Dr. TeLinde, the leading doctor in the study of cervical cancer, took tissue samples from women in public wards without their consent. This was common practice back in that time, and TeLinde figured that it was a fair exchange since the people in the public ward of Hopkins Hospital were receiving treatment without payment. Skloot lets us know that TeLinde was in the middle of proving that invasive tumors developed from noninvasive tumors. His research would be further helped by Gey and Margaret, who worked for over 30 years in producing an immortal lineage of human cells outside of the body. Henrietta’s cells became the first to manage to live outside of the body in a culture created by Margaret, and these cells are still growing to this day. They have been packaged, shipped and sold countless times. The HeLa cells have made the biggest contribution to human kind in regards of medical research on cancer, polio, and many more viruses. There is a report of the insane experiments done to these cells, and since they are not a person, ethical limitations are nonexistent. HeLa opened the gates to
The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks By Rebecca Skloot
1424 Words | 6 Pages“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” is a book by Rebecca Skloot journaling the story of the title woman and how her “immortal” cells have impacted science. The book starts out with a word from the author Skloot, where she recounts how she got involved in Henrietta’s story. Chapter one begins with Henrietta going to the doctors at John Hopkins on January 29th 1951 to get tested for a “knot” she felt inside her. The 1st doctor she went to couldn’t identify the cause and recommended she go to John Hopkins hospital. John Hopkins was not only one of the top hospitals at the time, it was also the only nearby major hospital that treated black patients.
Summary: The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks
420 Words | 2 PagesHenrietta Lacks, a black woman living during the first half of the twentieth century, died of complications due to cervical cancer and had her cells stolen from her by the people she originally entrusted to protect her. Her cells have allowed dozens of groundbreaking medical discoveries to take place. Despite the discoveries, her family lives in utter destitution, and her name has been forgotten by all but the most dedicated followers of her story. Rebecca Skloot’s book attempts to correct this injustice, giving life to the woman many simply know as HeLa. Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks hammers the point home by using Pathos to highlight the injustices against the Lacks clan, using Logos to highlight the breaches of medical ethics
The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks By Rebecca Skloot
461 Words | 2 PagesOne story follows Skloot and her journey on finding and convincing the Lacks’ family to be interviewed about the women behind the immortal cells. Another one talks about the remarkable things that HeLa cells have done in the research of the medical field such as cancer treatment, AIDs research, and the polio vaccine. The final one is on the topic of informed consent and how doctors have been doing tests on their patients without their knowledge.
The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks By Houston Mullican
734 Words | 3 PagesShortly after this happened Henrietta died from the cervical cancer on October 4, 1951. It wasn’t until two decades later that Henriettas name was released to the press, and it wasn’t until even later in the 1990’s when Rebecca Skloot heard of HeLa cells and was interested why there was so little information about her. Skloot then comes into contact with Henriettas family and most importantly forms a bond with Deborah, Henrietta’s oldest daughter. This bond with Deborah was crucial to find out information of Henrietta. While researching the bond grows and Skloot realizes that Deborah just wants to learn as much as possible about her mother like she wants too (Skloot Deborah really just wants her mother’s story to be told and people to realize that there is a person behind all the
The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks By Rebecca Skloot
572 Words | 3 PagesIt serves as a reminder of the importance of ethical considerations in scientific research as well as the humanity behind medical advancements. Movie: "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" is a movie that depicts the story of a woman who unwittingly became one of the most important contributors to modern medical research. Henrietta Lacks was a poor African American woman who was diagnosed with cervical cancer in the early 1950s. During her treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, doctors collected a sample of her cancer cells without her knowledge or consent.
The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks By Rebecca Skloot
722 Words | 3 PagesRebecca skloot, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, spent almost a decade gathering research in order to display Henrietta Lacks’s true story in writing. Skloot first found out about Henrietta Lack’s in her science college course at the age of sixteen. After hearing a brief description of Henrietta, with very little information, Skloot had some questions for her professor. When Skloot’s professor did not have any answers for her regarding Henrietta, she decided to take it upon herself to find out everything she could about Henrietta and her family. Skloot dedicated her life to researching Henrietta and the Lack’s family when there was no information about them.
The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks By Rebecca Skloot
1217 Words | 5 PagesAfter her death in 1951, for six decades, the name Henrietta Lacks was not a recognized name in the eyes of the society, but cells containing her DNA did. HeLa Cells are the first immortal human cells, cancerous cells taken from Henrietta’s cervix never die, in fact they multiply every twenty-four hours. After spending 10 years to perfect her first book, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot encapsulated the life, the death, and aftermath of Henrietta Lacks’ life. Throughout her book, Rebecca Skloot takes the reader on an extraordinary journey through the lens of the Lacks family, dealing with controversial issues regarding science, ethics, race, and class. The journey of the Lacks families started in Henrietta’s hometown Clover, Virginia then progressed to the “colored” ward of
How The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks Changed The Medical Field
929 Words | 4 PagesThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is about the life of the woman whose cells changed the medical field and about the impact those cells have on her family. Henrietta was a black woman who grew up in Clover, Virginia in a family of poor, tobacco farmers. Her mother died when she was young and her father left shortly after, leaving her to be raised by her grandfather, who was also raising her cousin, Day. She later married Day and they moved to Turner Station, outside of Baltimore, Maryland because Day was able to get a decent paying job. Henrietta and Day had five children: Lawrence, Elsie, Sonny, Deborah, and Zakariyya.
Henrietta Skloot
823 Words | 4 PagesIn the year of 1988, a woman named Rebecca Skloot first learned about a woman known as Henrietta Lacks. Ever since then, Skloot had been deeply fascinated by her. Henrietta is quite fascinating, and did wonders for the world of science. It started in the year of 1951, when Lacks was just 31 years old. She first noticed she was bleeding, when it was not her time of the month.
More Than Just Hel The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks
894 Words | 4 PagesToday we expect our pharmaceuticals to be able to help us through any illnesses that we may be feeling, Henrietta Lacks is the woman who unknowingly gave a piece of herself to aid mankind. Henrietta Lacks was just like you and me, but was born in a time where the world was still evolving in science as well as racial standards. She grew up poverty-stricken and led a life of it as well. In the 1920s on up African-Americans didn’t have the rights that we have today, and that is a major concept to understand throughout this book.
Henrietta Skloot's The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks
614 Words | 3 PagesA main goal and component of this biography is to humanize Henrietta. Skloot aims to inform the reader about the woman behind the science; she is not Helen Lane or HeLa, but a woman who had a life and a family. Actions of the scientific community severely affected not only her, but the next generation of the Lacks family. Skloot goes on to describe her family background as well as giving an in-depth description of Henrietta herself. An element that Skloot especially emphasizes was how much Henrietta cared about her appearance: Henrietta spent hours taking care of those nails, touching up the chips and brushing on new coats of polish.
Why Is Henrietta Lacks Unethical
428 Words | 2 PagesNeither Henrietta nor her family members were aware of the advances that these cells have generated and that they were even taken in the first place (The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks). After learning the three basic bioethical principles, it was easier for me to claim that the taking and mass producing of
Rhetorical Analysis: The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks
989 Words | 4 PagesBushra Pirzada Professor Swann Engh-302 October 4th 2015 Rhetorical Analysis: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks written by Rebecca Skloot tells the story of a woman named Henrietta Lacks who has her cervical cancer. It further goes to tell the audience how Henrietta altered medicine unknowingly. Henrietta Lacks was initially diagnosed with cervical cancer in 1951; however, the doctors at John Hopkins took sample tissues from her cervix without her permission. The sample tissues taken from Henrietta’s cervix were used to conduct scientific research as well as to develop vaccines in the suture.
Henrietta Lacks Thesis
1020 Words | 5 PagesThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells the story of Henrietta, an African-American woman whose cells were used to create the first immortal human cell line. Told through the eyes of her daughter, Deborah Lacks, aided by journalist Rebecca Skloot. Deborah wanted to learn about her mother, and to understand how the unauthorized harvesting of Lacks cancerous cells in 1951 led to unprecedented medical breakthroughs, changing countless lives and the face of medicine forever. It is a story of medical arrogance and triumph, race, poverty and deep friendship between the unlikeliest people. There had been many books published about Henrietta’s cells, but nothing about Henrietta’s personality, experiences, feeling, life style etc.
Racism In The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks
743 Words | 3 PagesRacism in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Imagine your mother, sister, wife, or cousin was diagnosed with cervical cancer and you believed the doctors were doing everything in their power to help her. Only later you discovered her cells were used for research without consent and she was not properly informed of the risks of her treatment due to her race. This story happened and is told by Rebecca Skloot in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Skloot use of narrative and her writing style enhances the understanding of the story. Henrietta Lacks was a young black woman who was diagnosed with cervical cancer at John Hopkins Hospital.
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