Henrietta Lacks

Great Essays
Piecing Together a Fragmented Understanding of Henrietta Lacks In the foreword to The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot discusses her efforts and struggles in attempting to capture and to present clearly the story and narrative of Henrietta Lacks. Skloot acknowledges in the Prologue that there is “no way of knowing exactly how many of Henrietta’s cells are alive today” (Skloot, 2). All of the numbers are estimates, guesses, or attempts, and the idea that there is no way of knowing for sure underlies much of the narrative. Worlds apart from Henrietta, the majority of the knowledge about her is partial, incomplete, or biased. Each statistic, article, or conversation about Henrietta or HeLa, however, is a continued attempt: an …show more content…
In a state of panic, Deborah relates all of her knowledge of HeLa to her cousin, pacing anxiously and nervously. Deborah goes into a stroke-like spasm as her cousin touches her and begins to preach, yelling aloud “’I REALIZE God that TONIGHT there’s just some things doctors CANNOT DO,’” to which Deborah responds “’Show me where you want me to go with these cells, Lord, please… just help me with this BURDEN’” (291, 292). Skloot employs this scene to evaluate how spiritual knowledge proves most effective and least burdensome for Deborah in her attempt to grasp HeLa. Deborah frequently became ill while attempting to understand and interpret various information about her mother, and in this scene that knowledge proves too much to bear. Religion here offers Deborah relief from her suffering. It is only after this spiritual intervention that Deborah is comforted and reempowered enough to move forward in her search for more information. In a scene that similarly evokes the reparative and reassuring qualities of spiritual knowledge, Deborah shares with Rebecca her wishes after death. “’Maybe,’” Deborah says, “’I’ll come back as some HeLa cells like my mother, that way we can do good together out there in the world’” (310). Skloot articulates this conversation as the conclusion of her narrative, after Deborah, Rebecca, …show more content…
Samples of Henrietta’s cervix were sent to Dr. George Gey’s laboratory for research, but none of the researchers were prepared for the discovery that they would make. “Henrietta’s cells weren’t merely surviving, they were growing with mythological intensity… They kept growing like nothing anyone had seen,” which led Dr. Gey to conclude that he had “grown the first immortal human cells” (40, 41). This was a revolutionary discovery for medical researchers, who had been trying for years to develop a culture medium or to cultivate a cell line that would reproduce and survive for substantial periods of time. Just weeks after Henrietta started radiation therapy, “Gey began sending Henrietta’s cells to any scientist who might use them for cancer research” (57). HeLa cells grew quickly and, thanks to Gey, spread just as quickly. Soon, Henrietta’s cells were around the world in “Texas, India, New York, Amsterdam, and many places between” (57). Gey’s research had an early, immediate, and undeniable impact on scientific knowledge, particularly within the context of the medical community. Skloot informs the reader that Gey’s work would enable the development of a Polio vaccine, flu medicines, and gene mapping and cloning. However, this would all occur unknown to, and without consideration of Henrietta and her family. Like HeLa cells, the

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Elie Wiesel is quoted saying, “We must not see any person as an abstraction. Instead, we must see in every person a universe with its own secrets, with its own treasures, with its own sources of anguish, and with some measure of triumph.” The story of Henrietta Lacks, or “HeLa” as she is most commonly known, is a story of how one woman changed history so much and yet she has very little recognition. The reason Henrietta Lacks is not a household name is because the mainstream media and the scientific community overall does not know the person behind the cells, they only know what her cells have done to benefit them. Elie Wiesel mentions in the first part of his quote, “We must not see any person as…

    • 1672 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    But unlike any other cells that have been through this process, Henrietta's cells had stayed alive and kept reproducing. They had become the first laboratory grown immortal human cells. Henrietta's husband was contacted after the tragic death, for permission to take some samples and run some…

    • 215 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebbeca Skoolt, who’s a journalist, was in college when she learns information about Henrietta Lacks, and African American woman, who died in 1951, from cervical cancer. Some years later, she heard about the name again and was so curious that she decided to do research on this woman. Rebecca later learns that Henrietta’s cancerous cells were the first to become the first human cell line, called HeLa. After doing some research Rebecca later learned that in the 21 century, HeLa made some of the most important discoveries. Even so, little was known about Henrietta Lacks…

    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Henrietta Lacks Report

    • 596 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Immortal Live of Henrietta Lacks is a book by Rebecca Skloot is about Henrietta an African American woman who develops cervical cancer as a result of her cancerous cells which will have a major impact in medicine and science. The book is base on the hundreds of interviews Skloot did to Henrietta’s friends and families. Although her cancerous cells did help scientists with the development of treatment. It also raises a hot topic if it was right for them to use them she they have as the family. Although her cancerous cells did help scientists with the development of treatment.…

    • 596 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In 1950’s Maryland, segregation was at it’s height-Jim Crow laws were in effect, schools were separate but equal, and the Klu Klux Klan had a mainstream following. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, a black woman, whose cancer cells were taken from her without her permission. Though her lifespan only amounted to 31 years, the effect of her immortal cells will last an eternity. Although Henrietta was an African American woman, she received the best treatment available for her cancer at the time; however, her race affected her life greatly. Contrary to popular beliefs, Henrietta Lack’s race had little effect on her cells and the way she was treated in the hospital, in fact, she was given the best treatment that was available at the time.…

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Essay On Henrietta Lacks

    • 1241 Words
    • 5 Pages

    This specific book is about the relationship between HeLa cells and science over a 60-year span. HeLa cells have been significant to scientific treatments, experiments, and research. HeLa cells originated from a poor, uneducated, woman from a small town who was referred to as Henrietta Lacks. She was a brave, strong,…

    • 1241 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Henrietta Lacks Religion

    • 1021 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Faith and Science Working Together Religion playing a huge role in a book about the history of modern medicine? Usually unheard of. But not in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skoot. This is an emotionally charged historical account regarding the origin of one of the most famous and important tools in modern medicine.…

    • 1021 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    She is a science journalist that did not believe in supernatural things. But throughout her visits with the Lacks family, she soon acknowledges the importance of religion and appreciates it more than before. Gary, the most religious one in the family, hands her the Bible and instructs her to read the passages; “In that moment, reading those passages, I understood completely how some of the Lackses could believe… that Henrietta had been chosen by the Lord to become an immortal being. If you believe the Bible is the literal truth, the immortality of Henrietta's cells makes perfect sense” (Skloot 296). She realizes that the Lacks family perceives Henrietta’s death differently than the doctors at Hopkins-by spiritually.…

    • 927 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Victimized by the exploitation of white scientists, Henrietta Lacks’ cancerous cells were taken without her consent as she sat in John Hopkins Hospital, the very place that would mark her death. These cells would eventually revolutionize the field of medicine and save millions of lives, but they also killed Henrietta, leaving her family behind in poverty and absolute turmoil. Throughout The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot most effectively appeals to her readers through the use of pathos, which causes them to become emotionally invested in the story behind Henrietta Lacks, the woman who changed the world of medicine without knowledge of doing so, whereas ethos and logos grant her credibility and defend her argument with reliable…

    • 768 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Before reading this book, I knew a lot already about the HeLa cells and what kind of scientific advancements came from them. But, even though I knew a lot about HeLa, I didn’t know much about Henrietta Lacks. It demonstrates that behind a lot of our scientific advancements, there’s a real person who made that happen. Especially in Henrietta’s case, where she was unknown until after she had died, it’s important for people to hear about her and to hear her story because she was unable to share it herself. It was a very good book, and I highly recommend that anyone entering into any health profession should read this book and learn about Henrietta Lacks, not just the HeLa…

    • 992 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This was the first time the family was told about the use of Henrietta’s cells. Since a large portion of her family was uneducated, it was very difficult for her family to comprehend what was really going on. Her family was never compensated. Henrietta’s family could not even afford health insurance, yet the whole world has benefited from Henrietta’s cells. Science writer Rebecca Skloot took a significant interest in the Henrietta Lacks story and gained trust in Deborah Lacks, Henrietta’s daughter, and the family to explore all aspects of Henrietta’s unknown life.…

    • 868 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Henrietta’s cells have revolutionized Science, but never did she receive the credit she should…

    • 1232 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    There’s no doubt that the cells that were discovered in Henrietta were extraordinary and have been a major medical discovery, however we cannot ignore the lack of doctor’s getting consent for the discovery which ultimately became and was a haunting issue of the Lack’s family in knowing secrets and experimentation of Henrietta. In conclusion, I hope I gave vast insight of the legacy of Henrietta Lacks and her significance to why she is dubbed as the most important female in medicine and science. References Five Reasons Henrietta Lacks is the Most Important Woman in Medical History. (2010, February 05).…

    • 1103 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, the great provision of facts and information…

    • 793 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    HeLa was vital to cloning research, counting the number of chromosomes in a human cell, and the polio vaccine. HeLa refers to a cell line that given a endless supply of nutrients can divide forever. In this way, they are considered to be “immortal.” These cells are so prominently used in scientific research that if lined up, HeLa cells would circle the Earth more than three times. But where did these cells come from?…

    • 901 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays