Rebecca Skloot

“The early cell culture and cloning technology developed using HeLa helped lead to many later advances that required the ability to grow single cells in culture, including isolating stem cells, cloning whole animals, and in vitro fertilization” (Skloot 75). The start of major advancements in science heavily relied on the immortal factor of the HeLa cells. Due to these cells despite the fact that it was discovered mistakenly, medical professionals can diagnose down syndrome and other genetic…

the goal of benefiting the greater community, but a large portion of them choose to commercialize in order to turn a profit, causing many to debate whether or not it is ethical to put a price on a human life. One contributor to the argument is Rebecca Skloot, whose book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, illustrates the life of Henrietta Lacks and how her cells were taken without permission, grown in culture, and bought and sold for millions of dollars, all while her family lived in poverty.…

In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks written by Rebecca Skloot, the are many adversities that poor people, especially those of “colored” had to deal with. Many individuals of which were victims of the eugenics program. The eugenics program was a way of creating a population of more desirable (the whites), and getting rid of the undesirables ( all others who did not meet the criteria of society then). The way that this was carried out was through forced sterilization, and/ or elimination by…

Rebecca Skloot’s book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” has been a life-changing experience for my career as a Public Health student. This book reveals a new area of medical history in which I had limited knowledge of. For instance, my knowledge of African Americans contribution to science was slight until I heard about the HeLa Cells. One important issue that is addressed in the book is Henrietta Lack’s family and their connection with the medical world. I personally believed that…

her cells. In this process of experimenting with the cells, he sent them around the world for other researchers to experiment with as well. Rebecca Skloot writes, "He sent shipments of HeLa cells to researchers in Texas, India, New York, Amsterdam, and many places between. Those researchers gave them to more researchers, who gave them to more still" (Skloot 57). Allowing for the spreading of these cells permitted that not only could Gey preform experiments on human cells, now anyone that had…

Anna Sanders 9th Grade Biology The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Introduction “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot tells the story of Henrietta Lacks and her cells (the HeLa cells). Henrietta was the mother to five children. She was the wife to David ("Day") Lacks, who was also her first cousin. She was diagnosed with cancer when she was thirty years old. She died when she was thirty-one years old. Henrietta never told her family about the “lump” she had until she…

own gain. According to Rebecca Skloot in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks she includes statements from doctors on Henrietta’s case and that work at John Hopkins hospital. When the Vice President of Hopkins, Ross Jones, was asked about celebrating Henrietta’s life and contribution to the medical world he stated that he was not sure how Hopkins would be able to help celebrate her life. On page 225 of this book capturing the life and mark that ‘HeLa’ left on the world, Skloot quotes Jones in…

Faith and Science Working Together Religion playing a huge role in a book about the history of modern medicine? Usually unheard of. But not in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skoot. This is an emotionally charged historical account regarding the origin of one of the most famous and important tools in modern medicine. The HeLa Cells, taken from Mrs. Henrietta Lacks in the early 1950’s without her consent, have lead to researchers finding a multitude of new treatments and making a…

Synthesis There are many issues about informed consent that are located within the articles “Deal Done Over HeLa Cells” written by Ewen Callaway and “Taking the Least of You” written by Rebecca Skloot. In “Deal Done Over HeLa Cells,” it notifies the readers about the cells of Henrietta Lack’s and how they were taken away from her body without her or her family’s consent. In “Taking the Least of You,” it states the issues about informed consent that Ted Slavin, John Moore, and William Catalona…

Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2018. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, http://link.galegroup. com/apps/doc/SDHZGP500750980/OVIC?u=fl_lakeminnhs&xid=5ec6c5d7. Accessed 30 January 2018. Skloot, Rebecca. The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks. New York: Crown Publishers, 2010. Accessed 25 December 2017. Zissou, Rebecca. "Caught on camera: should paparazzi be subject to stricter laws?" Junior Scholastic/Current Events, 18 Feb. 2013, p. 15+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,…