...The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot follows the story of the famous HeLa cell line, introducing us to the woman behind these cells, the family she came from, and how her cells swept the field of science. This book tells the story of how race, poverty, and the practices used in the fields of science and medicine in the last 100 years has led to the many of the modern day innovations we have, all thanks to the HeLa cells. In 1951, a young black woman admitted herself into Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore to have doctors look at what she described as a knot on her womb. It turned out Henrietta had an aggressive case of cervical cancer, and almost 9 months after first visiting Hopkins, she died at the age of 31. Before she died, the doctors treating her had taken samples of her tumor and sent them to a man named George Gey who also worked in Hopkins, but was working to create the first “immortal” line of human cells in hopes of helping cancer research. Gey’s lab worked to grow and sustain cells in culture, using cervical cancer tissue samples from numerous women admitted into Hopkins. Although these women’s tissues were being used, it’s very likely that most, if not all, had no idea their tissues and cells were being used. This was the case with Henrietta’s tissue samples. Labeled “HeLa” for the abbreviation of her name, Henrietta’s cells became the first human cells to grow successfully in culture, and soon became...
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...Name: Thomson Levi’s Tutor: Dr. Francis Ochola Course: English Date: 23/10/2012 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks In 1951, Henrietta Lacks, a poor young woman goes to the clinic for a physician to examine a perceived knot on her womb. The lady has been under pain for one year and explained the matter to the cousins; however, they did nothing until the pain became severe. The local physician had executed tests on syphilis that was negative, and advised her to visit the area main hospital for further medication. Unfortunately, she was diagnosed at Johns Hopkins Hospital with cervical cancer. In chapter 3, there is a presentation of medical conceptualization and treatment of cervical cancer, and description of the treatment of Henrietta at Johns Hospital. Dr. TeLinde at the Johns Hopkins was a leader researcher in this field, and interested in the demonstration of the then debate claiming noninvasive cervical cancer was merely invasive cancer. Cells were taken from her in the course of that exam and used without her consent in order to build up the first immortal cell line. In telling the story, the author draws from personal interviews and primary sources to offer insightful narrative accounts of the childhood of Henrietta, adulthood, her diagnosis, the illness, and tragic death. Rebecca expounds the HeLa’s birth and life and shows changes on the research concerning the realm of medical research, leading to both medical and scientific breakthroughs; however, also...
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...Thesis: In her novel, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Skloot uses events from the lives of the Lacks family and examples of medical treatment from the time, to construct and defend the argument that minorities and members of lower socioeconomic statuses receive worse medical treatment than upper and middle class non-minorities and are subjected to exploitation. Topic Sentence 01: Many medical professionals at the time, had negative attitudes towards non white, uneducated or impoverished peoples. Evidence: “But Carrel wasn’t interested in immortality for the masses. He was a eugenicist: organ transplantation and life extension were ways to preserve what he saw as the superior white race…”(Skloot 59). Commentary: Carrel, a nobel prize...
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...The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is uniquely arranged in a complex double plot line between Henrietta Lacks’ life story and the journey of discovery that the author, Rebecca Skloot, embarked upon in search of the truth behind HeLa (the cells of Henrietta Lacks). The narrative perspective of the work differs between both plot lines: the sections from the author’s point of view are spoken in first person, while the parts pertaining to Henrietta and her family have a third-person omniscient perspective. Beginning at Ch 29: A Village of Henriettas, the two plot lines of the novel converge, bringing together Rebecca Skloot and Henrietta’s devoted daughter, Deborah, as the two passionately collaborate to uncover the emotional shocking truth behind the mystery of HeLa. Book Context: Ch. 1-10 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks reveals the true story of the woman from the 1940-50s who was behind the miracle HeLa cells; these cells were the first to permanently survive outside the human body and they are still alive today in laboratories across the globe. Furthermore, these HeLa cells...
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...The Immortality of Ethics in Science and Medicine Rebecca Skloot’s “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” raises a number of ethical questions through the story of a woman whose immortal cells have made and continue to make an incredible difference in the world of science and medicine. A doctor’s duty is to treat and care for patients, regardless of their race, ethnicity, and income level. In the mid-1900’s, however, few medical professionals practiced medicine in this manner. Low-income, black patients who could not afford a high standard of care were forced to seek care in facilities which often viewed them as research subjects. Henrietta Lacks sought medical care in the Johns Hopkins University Hospital where she began painfully deteriorating...
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...assey Barbeau 11/10/16 Mr. Mooney The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Essay Skloot, Rebecca. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. New York: Broadway Books, 2010 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is Rebecca Skloot’s debut monograph, and she has only written one other monograph since. Skloot attended Colorado State University, and received her MFA from University of Pittsburgh. Though she has only written two monographs, Skloot is the author of hundreds of essays and stories published in various magazines. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, written by Rebecca Skloot, tells the story of a young African American woman named Henrietta Lacks, who was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Though she was put through many painful medical treatments, Henrietta Lacks succumbed to her illness at the young age of 31. Unbeknown to Henrietta and her family, surgeons at John Hopkins Hospital had taken tissue from Lacks’ tumor, and sent the cells to be investigated by Dr. Gey, a researcher at John Hopkins Hospital. Despite the fact that many would consider this morally corrupt, informed consent had not yet materialized at this time, so there was no legal wrongdoing on the part of John Hopkins. Much to Dr. Gey’s surprise, Henrietta Lacks’ cells were growing astonishingly...
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...Reflection Paper: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Indeed Henrietta Lacks’ life is immortal. Henrietta Lacks was an African American woman of the 1950’s. She suffered from cervical cancer and eventually passed away at age 31. Because of her gender and race, she was treated unfairly and unable to receive proper treatment for cancer. A doctor by the name of Howard Jones was responsible for Henrietta’s diagnosis. As he examined the tumor in her cervix, he discovered it’s unusual size and color. Henrietta was then scheduled for treatment. The surgeon on duty was responsible for her treatment. His name was Lawrence Wharton. Because of Richard TeLinde’s theory, for research purposes, Wharton helped himself to a few samples of her cervix without the consent of Henrietta Lacks or her family. He then sent the tissues to a specialist by the name of George Gey. George Gey and his wife Margaret had been studying and growing cell cultures for years. With that being said, Gey and his wife grew Henrietta’s samples in a test tube in a lab at Johns Hopkins hospital. He eventually realized that these cells were not normal. They were immortal. And even now, fives decades after her death, HeLa cells are still being used for scientific research. A curious biology student known as Rebecca Skloot wrote The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. When Skloot was 16, she was taking a biology course at a community college for high school credit because the alternative school she went to didn’t offer it...
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...that could be used to describe Rebecca Skloot’s nonfiction writing of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Henrietta, wife of David and mother of four, had cells taken from her body without her consent. The Lacks family did not know this until a much later date. Henrietta’s cells are now referred to as HeLa which is the pattern of which most doctors used to label the cells they took from patients, willing and unwilling: First two, Last Two. This hides the identity of the patient. Throughout this memoir you will be taken back and forth between 2 points of view, the story of Henrietta’s life as well as the struggles Rebecca Skloot goes through to contact and speak with the Lacks family....
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...In the non-fiction novel The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, Henrietta died of cervical cancer in 1951, a few months before her death samples were taken. Those samples became an important search for the cure of the cancer she had. She encounters health risks that are dangers and increased her chances of illnesses. She faces poverty, race, and a low quality education. These factors cause internal and external conflicts on a great ‘magnitude’. Henrietta Lacks was an unprivileged woman who came from a low economic status. She had inconveniences getting seen while she was ill due to the fact that she had no transportation and without a way to get seen by a doctor her health declined. Her nutrition was at a standstill. Do to...
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...The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Essay Prompt 2 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks details how one woman’s immortal cells brought forth a medical revolution, with advances in medical technology and the development of a polio vaccine. Years earlier, the Industrial Revolution generated a wave of major breaks in biomedical engineering and the surgical field, with the invention of x-rays, anesthetics, and antiseptics (Local Histories). In a time rich with major breakthroughs in science, one may wonder at what cost have these developments revolutionized modern medicine? And at what point do we cease to advance our knowledge in the medical field for the sake of science and helping others, and instead let greed and money motivate scientific pursuits?...
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...The book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks [HeLa] by Rebecca Skloot is a very well written and insightful book that discusses the life of Ms. Henrietta Lacks as well as the journey that her immortal cells have taken since her untimely death. After reading the first half of the book, many conclusions were made about the author’s style of writing and ways of informing the reader on facts about both Ms. Lacks and her cells. One of the creative ways that were very much appreciated about the book’s layout is the fact that the author switches from one subject to another throughout the chapters. Instead of telling the story in a “straight line” so to speak, the author switches from telling the story of Henrietta’s life and death to her (the author’s)...
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...Reading “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot has identified various ethical issues. At the forefront is the disregard for patient consent when Henrietta Lacks cells are taken from her without her knowledge and sent to a lab where they grow and continuously sold to other labs all around the world. Informed consent is a patient right, however, at that time for a black woman no one thought twice about asking her permission or even informing her that samples were taken. Now looking back and think what occurred we cringe. Knowing that HeLa cells are in labs all around the world and were used in various vaccines and research without her permission is thoroughly chilling. “With Henrietta unconscious on the operating table… Wharton picked up a sharp knife and shaved two dime-sized pieces of tissue from Henrietta’s cervix” (Skloot, 2010, 33). This vivid account of the cells being taken from Henrietta’s...
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...Two sets of research will be covered in this paper first we have prevaricator, John D’Agata with his research article Lifespan of a Fact and second Rebecca Skloot book/research, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. The purpose of this paper is to detail the day and night between the two pieces, the literary analysis and the overall attitude felt by the authors. Starting off from a quote out of D'Agata's article "I'm not writing for public office. I'm trying to write something that's interesting to read.” That's D'Agata summed up in one sentence. He is merely writing for entertainment and sport. Not interested in the truth in the least but how he can bend the truth to fit his story so it sounds good. While on the other hand Skloot gives a nice story in chronological order. Not only that but she gives us history of the time period in which she is investigating. She also gives a nice genealogy of Lacks life and family. This is something not found in D'Agata's research, this is actual facts about the person being researched....
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...In the text “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Chapter 25 ‘Who Told You, You Could Sell My Spleen?’” written by Rebecca Skloot. There is a common central idea of informed consent can avoid conflict between doctors and patients. Without having the legal system involved conflict between John Moore and Dr. Golde could of been more severe and not of help future people in the same situation. All of their issue and legal problem could have be avoid if Dr. Golde was honest with his patient, John Moore. If Dr. Golde informed Moore about what he was planning to do with his cells and Moore consented then they could of set up an agreement about the possible financial situation and this deceitful situation could've been avoided. Also informed consent...
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...In the book The “Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” By Rebecca Skloot, it told a story about the life of Henrietta Lacks as well explain the issues of tissue collection. Tissue collection causes lots of issue like the arguments of ownership, privacy, consent, and compensation. Tissue collection causes arguments over ownership. People tend to have a strong sense of ownership when it comes to their body. One main and important point in the debate over ownership of human biological materials Scientist feared that if tissue samples including blood cells were considered patients property then researches taking them without getting consent would be charged with theft, which would “create chaos for researchers”. They were worried that “patients would block the progress of science by holding out for excessive profits” which could possibly happen. When tissue are a part of your body they are clearly yours but when they are taken away from your body things get questionable, because of this it causes an issue in tissue collection...
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