George Otto Gey

Adversity in Science Cold. 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…

At Hopkins one of researchers who worked on Lack’s case was Dr. George Gey, a leader in cancer tissue culture. In order to study cancer or any other cell disease, there must be cells to study. The problem is that human cells can survive only for a short time out of the body, which makes them useless for most experiments. The truth was Dr. Gey had been doing research for decades, trying to prove the then controversial idea that growing cell from normal cervical tissue. However, the idea to grow…

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…

“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.…

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…

If the vaccine worked the cells would be protected, but if the vaccine did not work scientists would see the damage caused by the virus under a microscope. When the NFIP contacted George Gey to mass-produce cells to test the poliovirus vaccine, Gey and his colleagues injected the HeLa cells with poliovirus. As a result, they determined that HeLa cells were very susceptible to the poliovirus. This indicated that the experimentation of the vaccine could be continued…

Moore was accused of trying to make a quick buck off the scientists who saved his life by removing his cancerous spleen, his plea for three billion dollars was denied having made it all the way to the supreme court. As a result of these cases having come from times in history without adequate legislation on tissue donation by which to comprehend the processes and limitations of tissue donation and property rights, Lacks and Moore both ended up in less than perfect standing. Lacks died poor, her…

When discoveries were made that improved quality of life for the overall community, the field of public health wanted to study the cells as much as possible by as many different people as possible. George Gey sent out many samples of Henrietta 's cells to scientists everywhere which jump started the research being done on the cells. HeLa cells proved to be extremely helpful in the efficient and economic testing of the polio vaccine. This led to cell…

research or make profit from them. In this case of Henrietta Lacks, she signed the operation consent that allows doctors to conduct whatever procedure they think is essential. Therefore, Jones took some part of Henrietta’s cells and shared them with George Gey. In this case, some people might argue that without taking her cells the world will be completely different, whereas others will insist that this action lacked a clearly informed consent and violated the basic human rights. Another issue…

benefit from medical discovery. However, the wounds of the deeply personal side effects, inflicted by utilitarianism, may be more painful than any possible benefit. It becomes clear while reading the novel, that Henrietta’s unapproved donation to Dr. Gey changed the lives of many. Especially when considering the widely known medical discoveries made possible by HeLa, the pain, unknown, and deception Henrietta Lacks experienced seems quite minor. During the height…