Henrietta Slacks Role In Scientific Research

Both the readings bring up an important issue that plagues science and medicine. Henrietta Slacks played in important role in scientific research; her cells allowed scientists to study and come up with treatments for a wide range of diseases. HeLa cells were used to study the effects of radiation on human cells. While the cells were used for important research, one cannot forget that the original samples of cells were taken from Slacks without her consent. Her family was upset when they discovered that scientists were using her cells and distributing information. Skloot states that laws concerning patients were not as stringent as they are now, but taking samples from patients without their knowledge is unethical. Corporations and scientists profited off of Henrietta’s cells without the family’s knowledge. …show more content…
One of the most disturbing allegations is that the husband had explicitly stated that he did not want the doctors to take samples from his wife but someone still went ahead with the extraction. What is even worse is that many scientists had no clue who Henrietta Slacks was or how the samples were taken. Deborah’s response to her mother’s contribution really stuck out, she said,” But I always have thought it was strange, if our mother cells done so much for medicine, how come her family can’t afford to see no doctors?” (Skloot). The Slacks family was taken advantage of, but was there anyway this situation could have been avoided? Today there are many rules and regulations in place in order to avoid ethical dilemmas in scientific research. The US Department of Health and Human services proposed changes to the common rule which affects research participants. While these may not have been in place during Henrietta’s time, the common rule provides protection to research participants so that the same situation is not