George Otto Gey

Rebecca Skloot’s book, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”, combines investigative reporting and scientific research to expose the race, gender, socioeconomic status, and bioethical issues 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…

My role as a social worker would have been to help the family as much as I can get through the complications they faced. I would offer services like educating them about informed consent, provide crisis counseling, and I would try to get every member of the Lacks family the free health insurance they obviously deserve. Slavin who died 21years ago, has special cells like how Henrietta has special cells. Slavin cells produced extremely valuable proteins that were important for scientific research.…

HeLa cells are a unique strain of cancerous cells obtained from the cancerous cervical tissue of Henrietta Lacks, who perished to the disease on October 4, 1951. HeLa cells are unique because they are “immortal”. HeLa cells are immortal because they do not experience programmed cell death like normal cells would, allowing the HeLa cells to replicate infinitely without experiencing degeneration of genetic material. It is suspected that Henrietta's human papilloma virus and syphilis played a…

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Part One Life and is comprised of eleven chapters that jump in time periods. Henrietta’s story starts its 1951 at Johns Hopkins Hospital when she is seeking treatment for a knot she discovered. However, it took multiple follow-ups before doctors took her concern seriously and diagnosed her with cervical cancer. The following chapters explores who Henrietta was beyond her medical chart and the impact she had on the people that personally knew her. It is…

A person’s perspective is a key factor in their personality. If a politician has an early 1900’s racist mindset then the public knows they’ll attempt to limit the right of non-whites. If a male employer has a deeply rooted sexist mindset than it can be inferred that he would never employ women. These are all simple decisions that if implemented could have long lasting effects on a community, but what if someone’s perspective leads to a decision whose repercussions will literally last for an…

The countless amounts of unethical scientific researches that were conducted by well respected scientists cannot be numbered. The amount of victims of unethical scientific research also cannot be numbered, but just another aspect that exposes the discrepancies of many health care professionals who took advantage of the respect, the trust and, the faith those patients instilled. Henrietta Lacks a woman of prestige, a woman of significant importance, and a woman of color was violated by health…

Henrietta Lacks was born in 1920, and died 31 years later in 1951. When researchers took samples of Henrietta 's cervix while she was still alive, they found that her cancer cells were growing 20 times faster than her normal cells. Scientists like George Gey wanted to find a way in which cancer cells could be fought. He sent Henrietta 's cells to other scientists who would be able to use it for research. HeLa cells were used to diagnose genetic diseases, fight polio, and create vaccines. Because…

from cells that help cure cancer and different diseases. The medical industry has used the HeLa cells to its advantage in exploiting the use for its gain through untold profits. As Rebecca Skloot mentions in the novel “There’s no record of Hopkins and Gey accepting money for HeLa cells, but many for-profit cell banks and biotech companies have.” (Skloot…

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…

Mohini Vadalia The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Henrietta Lacks, the wife and cousin of David Lacks, and a mother of 5, Lawrence, Elsie, David Jr.(Sonny), Deborah, and Joe. She was a poor, black woman who died of cervical cancer in 1951. The hospital where she was receiving her treatments, her doctor had withdrawn samples of her cancer cells without her knowledge and permission. These cells began reproducing endlessly. Even after Henrietta had died, her cells were still alive. They…