The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks By Rebecca Skloot
In the book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, the story of a impoverish African American woman is revealed in beautiful and amazing detail. The book consists of three main sections, wherein Rebecca Skloot describes the various aspects of Henrietta Lacks’ legacy. The three sections are life, death, and immortality. The purpose of the book was to expose the hidden story of the HeLa cells used in research across the country. This also exposes the ethical issues of what was basically a cell harvest on Henrietta Lacks without her proper understanding and consent. These ethical issues can further be explored and analyzed, which is the purpose of this paper, through modern day scientific ethics.
First of all, who was Henrietta Lacks and what
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Through this research scientists and doctors were able to make some of their greatest discoveries, namely the Polio vaccine. The amount of uses for these cells was enormous. Due to this the cells were readily reproduced and sent to labs far and wide. Some estimate that if someone could possibly take all of the HeLa cells and put them onto a scale they would weigh over 50 million metric tons. In the book they even talk about how there were enough cells produced to cover the entire earth in multiple layers of HeLa cells at one point. Her cells were numerous and the discoveries followed suit. Her cells helped learn more about cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization, and so much more. Almost the entire pharmaceutical industry was built by HeLa cell experiments. Everything sounds so great until you learn that these cells were cultured and spread without Lacks’ proper consent, and neither her nor her family were ever compensated for Ms. Lacks’ contribution to the world. In fact, they were never even informed of this occurring until 25 years …show more content…
Nobody wants to say that the good of many is unimportant when it comes to what they want out of fear of sounding selfish. But let’s be honest. Is it really okay to completely violate someone’s right to their own body just to help science? From all the good that came from this violation of rights many are tempted to say yes. From a utilitarian point of view where weighing the costs and benefits of alternative course of actions leads to a decision that maximizes the general benefit to the community and minimizes the impact and drawbacks to whoever may be involved, it seems almost like it is acceptable to say that the scientists did nothing wrong. This is true in a way. Without HeLa cells we may never have found the vaccine to Polio, found ways to fight the flu, or made the myriad of discoveries thanks to these cells. While it is acceptable that they took her cells, it is unacceptable in the way that they did it. There is no reason that she should not have been informed. If anything, Henrietta Lacks should have been given the opportunity to know where parts of her body were being taken. At the very bare minimum she should have at least been compensated for her contribution to the scientific
The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks By Rebecca Skloot
1695 Words | 7 PagesWhat could not have possibly been imagined was how this could ultimately affect the family of Henrietta Lacks. HeLa cells were unlike any other cells. They grew in mass quantities, and continued to multiply and grow in culture whereas other human cells stopped. This eventually lead to interest in the Lacks family and their genetics. Some family members were afraid for their medical health and what would happen to their genetic material if they went to the doctor.
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
Henrietta Lacks Research Papers
1145 Words | 5 PagesBorn in Roanoke, Virginia on August 1, 1920, Henrietta Lacks would one day unknowingly be the reason for one of the most important cell lines in medical research. Henrietta Lacks became the source of HeLa cells after her death on October 4, 1951 (aged 31), cells which were the first immortalized cell line in history; immortalized cells are cells that will reproduce indefinitely under specific conditions. While Henrietta’s cells were and continue to be used to treat many illnesses, there was never any consent given from Henrietta herself, or any of her family. To this day, no portion of the billions of dollars made from HeLa cells ever found it’s way to Henrietta’s family. The medical ethics in the 1950’s are very questionable in comparison
Henrietta Lacks Book Report
2855 Words | 12 PagesThey didn’t grow the HeLa cells for a good cause. I think that it was good that journalists wanted to find out the real woman behind HeLa cells and wanting to contacting the family. The public and Henrietta’s family should have the right to know that Henrietta is the woman whose cells have changed the world. When Henrietta had passed away, her children were sent away to live with Ethel and Galen. Joe received such great abuse from Ethel.
Henrietta Lacks Sparknotes
729 Words | 3 PagesAlong with that, the medical field had very few rules and was still unsanitary which was part of the problem with culturing cells until HeLa. There was also a lot of human experimentation at the time. In addition, there were multiple legal issues that revolved around this story like asking Henrietta for her consent when taking a sample of her cervical tissue for cell culture. They also never told her about the side effect of her cancer treatment about not having kids. Along with this, they started injecting HeLa cells inside of inmates without telling them what it was to see if they would develop cancer.
Henrietta Lacks Papers
536 Words | 3 PagesHenrietta has saved so many lives and she doesn’t even have any knowledge of it is the thing. She has help come up with many vaccinations for many different viruses and diseases it is unbelievable almost. Was it ethical to take her
The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks By Rebecca Skloot
484 Words | 2 PagesSince the 2010 release of Rebecca Skloot’s New York Times bestselling non-fiction book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, many people both in and outside the scientific community are at least aware of the story of Henrietta Lacks and HeLa cells . The almost-mythical tale of the immortal HeLa cell line, taken from Henrietta Lacks’s cancer-ridden cervix and grown in culture for more than sixty years now, has evolved and spread throughout the scientific and popular imaginary , surfacing in accounts of the miraculous power and possibility of scientific research and debates surrounding medical ethics . While HeLa was used to develop the polio vaccine, continues to be of use in the research of AIDS, leukemia, Parkinson’s disease, and a host of other medical conditions, and even sent up in the first space missions to test the conditions of human cells in zero gravity, the cell line also carries with it the history of the woman in whom it originated, the history of slavery and racism in America, and the entanglement of race, gender, class, and sexuality in the sciences.
Henrietta Lacks Impact On Society
442 Words | 2 PagesIn the 1950s the first ‘immortal’ human cells were grown from a cancerous tissue sample taken from Henrietta Lacks, a poor black woman, without her knowledge or consent. She had died shortly after, at the unfortunately early age of 31, of a severe case of cervical cancer. Henrietta had a list of ailments that included neurosyphilis, gonorrhea, and HPV the leading cause of her cervical cancer and, ultimately, her death. The hospital that had diagnosed her cancer, Johns Hopkins, had supposedly been one of the best hospitals in the country, but it participated in discriminatory and amoral research practices when treating African Americans. Not only taking taking Henrietta’s cells without her consent, but injecting them and other cancer cells into patients without their knowledge.
Henrietta Lacks Themes
211 Words | 1 PagesHenrietta Lacks’s daughter Deborah once stated “If our mother cells done so much for medicine, how come her family can’t afford to see no doctors?” (Skloot 9). The lack of ethics also points to another theme of Henrietta’s story, discoveries are more than the discovery itself, there are always people behind them. Deborah’s words also emphasize the human side
Henrietta Lacks Benefits
1249 Words | 5 PagesDoes saving the human race from extinction matter if you did not get permission to take the materials necessary? When an African American women had her cells stolen without her consent she had no knowledge as to how she was going to benefit the world, let alone the science industry. This woman is Henrietta Lacks. Her cells and her legacy will never be forgotten throughout the world. In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot presents the scientific progression of HeLa cells with study cases, such as the study of viruses and the development of the polio vaccine, in order to prove to the reader that HeLa was beneficial towards science and was not illegal in any ethical way.
Henrietta Lacks Violation Of Autonomy At Johns Hopkins
1435 Words | 6 PagesAfter HeLa cells became widespread, industries like Microbiological Associates in Chapter 13 commercialized the production of HeLa and sold HeLa cells in the millions to scientists all over the world. However, no one at Microbiological Associates bothered to ask where HeLa cells are from and why none of the profits go anywhere else. Henrietta’s cells were used as a means to earn money for the company and a means for George Gey to be famous. Even her healthcare physician Dr. TeLinde used Henrietta as a means for expanding on his cervical cancer procedure of using radium. As Henrietta and her visit to Johns Hopkins was essentially her being used as a stepping stone for another person’s career, she was treated as a means to an end.
Henrietta Lacks: An Analysis
624 Words | 3 PagesPart two of, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, once again submerges the reader in to the world of HeLa cells. This section emphasizes what occurred with Henrietta’s immortal cells after her death. Along with the many medical discoveries made from these miracle cells, part two delves into the physical and emotional abuse that Henrietta’s children were forced to live with after her passing all while struggling financially while their mother’s cells are being sold for millions of dollars. Skloot continues her phenomenal synopsis of the life of Henrietta Lacks and the stories her cells continue to tell. One of the utmost riveting and critical scenes of this section occurs in the first few pages.
Henrietta Lacks Without Her Consent Essay
663 Words | 3 PagesDespite the wrongdoings Henrietta Lacks was put through her cells did a lot to help advance science. Her cells helped develop different types of vaccines, which such as her daughter faced. A lot of good and bad came out of Henrietta’s
Henrietta Lacks And Ethics
462 Words | 2 PagesThe origination of HeLa cells, used in biomedical research for a potential cure for cancer, had made many ground breaking discoveries in science; all thanks to one woman, Mrs. Henrietta Lacks. The history of Mrs. Lacks’s contribution to these studies raised many ethical issues concerning healthcare practice. In the short film, The Way of All Flesh, we learn how these cells were revealed by direct violation of ethical principles. During the 1950s, matters regarding informed consent practices were in their beginning stages of implementation.
Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks Essay
919 Words | 4 PagesScientists and doctors made great discoveries with the HeLa cells of Henrietta Lacks. The family of Henrietta Lacks had to live with the aftermath of decisions made by doctors and
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