“Henrietta Lack’s cells thrived. In weight, they now far surpassed the person of their origin and there would probably be more than sufficient to populate a village of Henriettas” (237). According to the quote above, the amount of cells from one woman’s body is compared to the population of one village. How could this be? Rebecca Skloot, the author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, first started learning about HeLa cells in school, but was more curious to know the origin of the cells. Skloot was determined to find out more about the famous HeLa cells and where they came from. HeLa cells opened up a huge opportunity in the science and medical field that nobody could pass up. Since that time, there have been significant changes in scientific and medical knowledge and the way treatments, experiments, and research is performed. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is devastating, however, it is a compelling and informative book that shows how HeLa cells have impacted science over the years.
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, …show more content…
Doctors and scientists did anything they could to get their hands on these cells. Once they did, they ran tests on many innocent people to perform experiments and research. As mentioned in the book, “Rifkin and many others believes that any manipulation of DNA, even in a controlled laboratory setting, was dangerous because it might lead to genetic mutations and make it possible to engineer ‘designer babies’ Since there were no laws limiting genetic engineering” (Skloot 214). To this day HeLa cells are still being utilized for countless scientific
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, …show more content…
Doctors and scientists did anything they could to get their hands on these cells. Once they did, they ran tests on many innocent people to perform experiments and research. As mentioned in the book, “Rifkin and many others believes that any manipulation of DNA, even in a controlled laboratory setting, was dangerous because it might lead to genetic mutations and make it possible to engineer ‘designer babies’ Since there were no laws limiting genetic engineering” (Skloot 214). To this day HeLa cells are still being utilized for countless scientific