Cell culture

regarding HeLa cells. As the story unfolds, Henrietta Lacks, a poor black women, seeks treatment in 1951 for gynecological issues at Johns Hopkins Hospital. As A result, a few days later she receives the diagnosis of epidermoid carcinoma of the cervix, stage I. Not long after, Henrietta had her first cancer treatment at Johns Hopkins. During the procedure, tissue from her tumor and healthy cervix cells were collected unbeknownst to Henrietta and her family without consent. These cells were…

Scientists and researchers concede that medical research depends significantly on human cells developed in the laboratory, in order to evaluate the functionalities of such cells, and test numerous theories concerning the causes and treatments of diseases. The cell lines needed for such experiments must be immortal, which implies that they should show signs of indefinite growth, split into a number of batches for use by numerous scientists, and frozen for long durations of time. In 1951, medicine…

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? They came from a tumor on the cervix of a black woman in the 1950s, Henrietta…

Is cell phone usage beneficial or a hindrance to our culture? Cell phones were meant to be used in a way to maintain contact with others while on the road, in different cities, states, or even in different countries, and of course, in emergency situations. But that is not the case in today's culture. In today's culture, it seems that everyone has a cell phone and are constantly on them, regardless if the call is important or not. If that is not all, there are numerous apps, games, music, movies,…

admitted to a hospital, a sample of tissue unwillingly taken from her tumor gave rise to one of the most important cell lines in medical advancement and research. The cells that were “stolen” from her helped create vaccines, and aid in scientific discovery for years to come. However, not everyone benefited from the cells; Henrietta’s own family did not know of the existence of the cells for over 20 years after her death. Additionally,…

sliver of her tumor and cultured it to see if they could make the cell “immortal”. This all happened back in the 50’s when colored people weren’t seen as equal citizens to white people. Because of this, doctors withheld a lot of information, and they took the sliver from her without her consent and supposedly never told her about it. (Although there was one colleague who claimed that Gey did in fact tell Henrietta about the cells,…

Death. Uncertainty of surviving. Those were the conditions of Douglas Mawson, Australian explorer investigating Antarctica for scientific research. Henrietta Lacks, a woman who had her cells taken without permission, only for scientists to find out they rapidly multiply and help studies towards illnesses (Immortal Cells, Enduring Issues). Phineas Gage was a person who had a metal rod shot through his head and lived, which helped contribute to brain science (Book and Video), but none of their…

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks’, a New York Times Bestseller written by Rebecca Skloot. A book through which several meaningful topics are addressed and brought to light, one of the most significant being, whether or not people should be given legal ownership of, and/or control of their tissues. It is my belief that people should have ownership rights over their own body and what is derived from it, after all if an individual doesn’t have rights over their own body what rights do they have…

In our assignment for this week we are to figure out how Hela Cells should be handled both ethically and legally. Back in the 1950 they really did not have the laws we do now, but to be ethically correct in this case I feel that the doctor should have told her that he was taking cells to perform testing on and to get her permission before doing his testing on those cells. But when it came to those days if you were poor and could not afford treatment because of color I guess it didn’t matter to…

story about the life of Henrietta Lacks. Henrietta Lacks was an African American woman who was diagnosed with a fast-growing cervical cancer at a very young age. The cells retrieved from her cervical tumor, later termed “HeLa”, became the first immortal cell that could survive in the lab and replicate continuously without dying. These cells later became key components to the development of many groundbreaking inventions such as the polio vaccine and in vitro fertilization. The purpose of this…