The Immortal

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…

Morality is defined by discerning right from wrong, which is something scientists who conducted human research were unable to do. In the book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, written by Rebecca Skloot, Henrietta Lacks is an African-American woman who developed an aggressive form of cervical cancer. Although she is treated for the cancer, the treatment is executed much later than if she had been a white woman. During her first operation to treat the cancer, the surgeon removed two pieces of…

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…

may choose to change the world for the better, while others change the world for the worse. Part One of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is called “Life,” and there are multiple reasons as to why this specific word was chosen as the title. George and Margaret Gey were a pair of doctors that had a specific goal, as showed in this quote, “The Geys were determined to grow the first immortal human cells: a continuously dividing line of cells all descended from one original sample, cells that…

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 story “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” a woman is known for her immortal cells not for herself. Henrietta Lacks was a woman who went into the hospital because she had a knot on her womb. The knot was a tumor and a biopsy was done and it proved it was cancer. While having her procedures the doctor took a piece of the knot and sent it to Dr. George Gey. Dr. Gey cultured her cells and they became fast growing and healthy. These cells would start new scientific advances that not many…

except A Way of Writing is one of the few aspects of writing. In the book unSpun: Finding Facts in a World of Disinformation written by Kathleen Jamieson and Brooks Jackson, they discuss the spin in the world; spin which is deception. As well as, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks written by Rebecca Skloot, which analyzes the life and death of a woman, who’s being affected more than hundreds of thousands of lives. These…

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is written by a curious journalist, Rebecca Skloot, who spent a portion of her life learning about a woman by the name of Henrietta Lacks. Henrietta Lacks died of cervical cancer in 1951, but her cells lived on. One thing that was most shocking throughout this reading is the extent to which people will go in order to gain knowledge. It is surprising how many scientists, doctors, and other medical professionals treated patients unfairly so that they could…

thousands of people by sacrificing few people might sound nice for human beings. However, scientists may make poor decisions because of their passion for discovery and we cannot forget about the respect for fundamental human rights. In the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks written by Rebecca Skloot, she writes about experiments back in the mid-twentieth century when she says, “They recruited hundreds of African-American men with syphilis, then watched them die slow, painful, and…

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…