Hela Cells

The 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.

Frederick Douglass even had multiple partners, both races, and unfortunately had devastating moments because black people could not get married. Frederick Douglass still keeps changing the course of history by his skin-crawling achievements, and is now known to be one of the greatest leaders of anti-slavery. Frederick Washington Bailey was born in Tuckahoe, Maryland, United States in the year of 1818 of February. His mother, Harrier Bailey was taken away from Frederick Douglass when he was just about an infant, while his father, was said to believe that he was Harriet Bailey’s master, Aaron Anthony, and he believed it too.

Racism 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.

Appearing in USA Today, an opinion article entitled “Choose Adoption, Not Abortion” describes the life changing events that caused Marie Pozo Christie, a doctor and a member of The Catholic Association Advisory Board, to completely change her perspective of abortion. Christie describes how she once scoffed and pitied “...the yokels and the wingnuts...” who battle harsh weather to protest abortion in the March for Life; however, she soon joined these pro-life marchers when she adopted her youngest daughter, Lourdes, from China. Because families in China can only have one child due to overpopulation, most families want a baby boy because they are the ones who can work and continue the family name. Due to these strict laws, girls are often deemed

On January 10, 1864 born in Diamond, Missouri George Washington Carver was born into slavery on a small plantation owned by Moses Carver. Carver, son of Mary and Giles Carver, then went on to become a renowned botanist, chemist, and scientist. George Washington Carver played an important role in African-American History because he was one of the most well known botanist, chemist, and scientist in African-American History, he went on to speak about how all raced could live in harmony, and he created many uses for soybeans, peanuts, and sweet potatoes to help advancing farming by helping poor southern farmers get money to grow better crops. This quote from www.biography.com says that “Carver was born into slavery, but went on to become a scientist,

The conductors were abolitionists seeking to help the slaves find freedom. The Underground Railroad reached its height from 1850-1860. It is estimated 100,000 slaves were able to escape using the secure network. The Underground Railroad was able to successfully save so many escaping slaves lives due to the determined abolitionists, the secret language and songs, and the sneaky routes and safe houses.

Harriet Tubman mostly known for her abolitionist work was a very influential woman that saved many slaves’ lives. She was born into slavery with siblings and parents by her side. She died on March 10, 1913, but is still remembered for all of her work. Harriet Tubman had a hard life in slavery, worked in the Civil War, rescued slaves, worked on the underground railroad and can be compared to Nat Turner who also lived in the period of time when there was slavery. First off, Harriet Tubman was a slave that suffered many beatings and punishments for her actions that would cause her to have seizures in her later life.

Carson did not reference organics or biodynamics, yet people understood or adopted it as the book as their own agenda. How were they able to associate Silent Spring with their cause? Using Silent Spring and this article as a reference, explain how "the power of the people" and "ordinary" individuals can make significant impacts on environmental

“The Columbian Orator” was the first book Frederick Douglass ever owned as an imprisoned slave. After having the ability to read and write, Frederick had craved more. The Hugh family in the south viewed Frederick as property to their household. As a little boy, he was taught how to read and write by a kind hearted woman who was the wife of Mr.Hugh, which made her the slave owner of him. “My mistress who kindly commenced to instruct me”.

A woman is said to be the light bulb in a family but what happens if she is unable to fulfill her roles and duties as a mother? Can we still say that a family stays happy when there is a lack of mother figure? One of the global health issues that mainly attacks women today is cervical cancer, a type of cancer that occurs in the cervix (a female reproductive organ that connects the lower part of a woman’s uterus to her vagina). Experts said that about 250, 000 women around the globe die of cervical cancer a year caused by the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV) which infects nearly 80% sexually active women. HPV infection commonly causes skin or mucous membrane growths (warts) on the different parts of the body.

In the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, the author demonstrates the harsh realities that many African Americans faced in the medical and scientific field during the mid 20th century. The author shows the unjust practices of this time period through interviews with the Lacks family and medical professionals. These harsh realities are proven when Skloot talks to Henrietta’s family. Henrietta’s husband, Day, explains how they took samples from Henrietta’s body without consent when Skloot writes, “Day clenched his remaining three teeth. "I didn't sign no papers," he said.

Rebecca Skloot’s purpose in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is to present Henrietta and her family’s story while presenting issues regarding science, ethics, race, and class in Henrietta’s story. Skloot also had a major goal of teaching people about Henrietta’s case so that it could be learned from in the future. This purpose can be broken down into three sub-purposes: showing the world the woman behind the science, discussing the roles of race and class, and critiquing science and ethical issues. By informing the reader about Henrietta Lacks’ cells that have changed the medical world and about the controversy surrounding them, Skloot is successful in presenting her purpose. All of these smaller purposes come together to create a novel that makes the reader think, feel, and want more of the Lacks’ riveting story.

I first heard about Henrietta Lacks story after noticing and advertisement of Oprah Winfrey directing or possibly playing the role of Ms. Lacks. Reading the caption underneath the picture posted I decided to inquire more about the Henrietta Lacks. Ms. Lacks was an African American woman who found out in 1951 after a biopsy, Lacks was diagnosed with cervical cancer. The manifestation of the tumor was unlike anything that had ever been seen by the examining gynecologist Dr. Howard Jones. Henrietta Lacks was treated at the segregated John Hopkins Hospital with radium tube inserted and sewn into her body, a standard treatment at that time sewn in her body.

The 1950s were a time of turmoil between Blacks and Whites. Caught amid racism and segregation, blacks were viewed as inferior to whites, which resulted in unfair treatment by whites in almost all socio-economic circumstance. Hospitals and medical (facilities) were no exception, African-Americans were looked upon as test subjects rather than human beings, doctor’s experimented on black patients without proper consent. (from them). One instance where this occurred was Henrietta Lacks from the book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.

Henrietta Lacks The purpose of Rebecca Skloot’s book, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” is to tell the story of Henrietta Lacks, her illness, and how she completely changed science without even knowing it. Henrietta Lacks, a name that had been known to the world only as HeLa up until recent years; the first two letters of a name that belonged to a poor African American tobacco farmer. Henrietta Lacks was a woman who died of cervical cancer in 1951 and HeLa, the line of cells taken from Henrietta that were the first line of cells to reproduce and survive in the lab indefinitely.