Throughout The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, it is revealed that although science is helpful, it also has its own evils. Scientists stole people’s body parts, injected diseases, and did unnecessary treatments, all without patient consent. Henrietta Lacks was one of these unfortunate people. She was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Scientists then took those cells and started marketing them and doing experiments with them to come up with cures for various diseases. The family tells an…
During my first semester at ECC, my composition class studied the book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” by Rebecca Skloot. The book was written based on a true story about Henrietta Lacks and the unethical treatment and research done on her by Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1951. Henrietta Lacks received radiation treatments for cancer, which charred the exterior of her body and eventually spread the disease throughout her body even more. At first the treatment worked as it dissipated the…
Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot most effectively appeals to her readers through the use of pathos, which causes them to become emotionally invested in the story behind Henrietta Lacks, the woman who changed the world of medicine without knowledge of doing so, whereas ethos and logos grant her credibility and defend her argument with reliable…
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…
tissue and cells from a deceased patient. Mary Kubicek removed tumor tissue from Henrietta at the request of Dr. Gey and the family had only given consent to perform an autopsy, not removal of the tissue. (The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot). After receiving the cells from Dr. Jones, Dr. Gey named Henrietta’s cells “HeLa” in order to conceal the identity of the cells from her family as well as from the world, and claimed to receive the cells from a “Helen Lane”. Dr. Gey did…
When trying to review a book several aspects of it are usually considered. Those aspects include: themes, characters, plot, and the like. When reading a book, it can be hard to pick out those aspects. It is then that the true meaning of the book may be missed. That is why sometimes people come away from a book with very different meanings from what they read. This is usually due to what lens a person may be looking through when they are reading and trying to digest this book. When reading, “The…
The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks Rebecca Skloot, Award-Winning Science Writer Harland Howell II 11/16/2017 Northeast Mississippi Community College Dr. Tabatha Perrigo (Psychology) Abstract Overall, medicinal research made an intriguing breakthrough over than 50 years ago by obtaining tissue samples and cells from a patient that changed the medical world drastically. Cancer of course was and still is an occurring issue today in society but prior to the past, there was more of an epidemic…
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 the 21 century, HeLa made some of the most important discoveries. Even so, little was known about Henrietta Lacks so that’s when Rebecca decides to engage with the closest person to Henrietta, her daughter Deborah. The story…
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot displays the controversy as to whether or not the public has a responsibility to support scientific progress at all costs. This controversy became evident after Henrietta Lacks’ cervical tissues were taken from her body without her consent and then her cells, which became immortal, were used for medical research everywhere and her family did not know about it. These cells have helped the medical field in…
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot tells the story of Henrietta Lack who was an African American women born in 1920 the eighth of ten children. Her mother died when she was the age of four and her father her and the rest of her siblings went to live with her father in Virginia. From there the children were distributed to several relatives as it was too much of a burden for one person to handle ten children. Henrietta lived with Tommy Lacks, her grandfather. They grew up poor…