Rebecca West

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…

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a book by Rebecca Skloot that tells the story of a woman named Henrietta Lacks. Henrietta Lacks died of cervical cancer in 1951. A few months before her death, a doctor took a small sample of her cancer cells, which became the first and most important line of human cells to survive and multiply in a laboratory setting. Her cells helped scientists make some of the most important medical advancements in history, but the cells were taken without her knowledge…

HeLa cells were the basis of cell culture in the latter half of the 20th century. In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot explores the scientific achievements and ethical issues relating to HeLa cells, as well as the connection HeLa cells have with the Lacks family. When Henrietta Lacks was being treated for cervical cancer, the doctors shaved parts of her tumor off and sent them to a lab, where her cancerous cells never stopped dividing. She never consented to have her cells…

In the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot first presents us with various descriptions about HeLa cells, such as “immortal” and “never dies”. Thus, these distinct attributes that tremendously prolonged the life of of HeLa cells make the cells become one of the most significant tools in medical fields, such as cancer treatment, vaccine development, etc. As a person who learned biology in the past, Skloot knew the facts about HeLa cells, and they conduce to the whole world;…

In Rebecca Skloot’s book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, racial stereotyping against minority patients is predominant in every aspect of health care. Many of these stereotypes in Skloot’s book painted blacks as unintelligent and vulnerable and led to many doctors taking advantage of their patients. Henrietta Lacks was one of these patients and unfortunately doctors made millions off of her cancerous cervix cells without her informed consent. Her cells, named HeLa cells, helped cure the…

During World War II, terrible, unspeakable, experiments were being performed on prisoners without their knowledge or their consent. These experiments were performed against the prisoners’ will and ignored any and all medical conscience that today’s doctors hold as the standard. Though these experiments are considered one of the darkest times in terms of medical-ethics, these very experiments yielded some valuable information. With this in mind, a topic that has arisen decades after the original…

experiences act as the sacrifice that ultimately aids all people. To have the ability to serve all of humanity is a massive honor; however, that honor does not mean equivocate to ultimate sacrifice. The novel "The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks" By Rebecca Skloot subtly suggests that utilitarianism in medical ethics is necessary, so that everyone may benefit from medical discovery. However, the wounds of the deeply personal side effects, inflicted by utilitarianism, may be more painful than…

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…

Medical Ethics and the Abuse of Power In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, we see how medical professionals can abuse their power when treating patients. Henrietta Lacks was an underprivileged, African American woman with cervical cancer. While visiting her doctors for treatment, cancerous cells were taken from her, harvested, and distributed to labs all over the world without her knowledge. She was treated during the 1950s when racism was at its prime, causing her to be…