The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is, arguably, two different stories. It is the story of Henrietta Lacks and her family. It is also the story of Henrietta’s cancerous cells and how their impact on science changed her family forever. Henrietta Lacks explores racial and economic inequality and how they worked together to create an extremely unjust situation for the Lacks family.
Henrietta Lacks was an African-American woman who lived in Jim Crow era America. As such, when she fell ill, she did not have many options when it came to medical care. She went to her local doctor and was misdiagnosed. Her last option was to go to Johns Hopkins: the only hospital Lacks could afford that would treat African-American patients. It was miles away. When she finally arrived, she was sent to the “colored” ward. It was in this ward that her cells were harvested without her knowledge. This experimentation without the patient’s consent …show more content…
I understand that these events happened years ago and that the scientific community, and the country as a whole, is somewhat better. For example, informed consent is now the law. I’m still horrified that companies could legally make millions off of the cells of a woman without her consent, and also without compensating her family. People made millions off of the HeLa cells while the Lacks family couldn’t afford to see a doctor. When I could put aside my anger for a moment, I was fascinated by the science behind the cells. The idea that it’s scientifically possible for cells to be taken out of the body and then continue to live and grow on their own is amazing. The cells helped develop the vaccine for Polio, went into space, and contributed to cloning, gene mapping, and in vitro fertilization (“Henrietta Lacks’ ‘Immortal’ Cells”). The HeLa cells caused a lot of problems for the Lacks family, but they also helped so many other people lead better