Life Of Hela Cells

While performing the treatment Dr. Lawrence Wharton Jr. collected Henrietta’s normal and cancerous cell and sent them to George Gey, who was the researcher collecting any type of cells that the hospital would provide for his research, this was all done without Henrietta’s knowledge. In the 1950’s segregating still existed, and “Many scientist believed that since patients were treated for free in the public wards, it was fair to use them as research subjects as a form of payment.” (Pg. 30) Henrietta had a painful death in 1951, due to all the tumors that had spread throughout her body, leaving her 5 children without a

Her family had realized that Henrietta had suffered and died, but her cells lived on and that her cells have helped so many people. Henrietta’s son said “I just hope Hopkins and some of the other folks who benefited off of her cells will do something in honor of her and make right with the family”(Skloot, pg. 328). Henrietta is finally getting recognized, which brought unwanted attention to the family from the media, doctors, and researchers that wanted a piece of the HeLa gene line. That affected her daughter, Deborah negatively because she never really knew her mother, but when Deborah first heard of the book she was very excited that the world would finally get to know her mother’s story.

The story of Henrietta Lacks and HeLa cells is one to remember. It is truly amazing how one person’s cancerous cells could impact science and the lives of so many. In the book sections of “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”, Rebbeca Skloot did a wonderful job portraying how Henerietta’s cells have had a positive affect on scientific studies. She described what HeLa cells have done and how studies with these cells have evolved over time. The movie “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” provided good insight on Henrietta’s family and described what they have been through since the passing of their mother.

Confidentiality wasn’t required at the time and Henrietta had no right because she was dead. There were unethical procedures revealed during part three of this book that tie back to procedures done in the first two parts of the book. Elsie, Henrietta’s oldest daughter, had died at the Hospital for the Negro Insane. Deborah had gone to the location where this hospital stood and asked around for medical files on Elsie. Eventually she found some and with that came terrible price.

Once Henrietta Lacks gained enough courage to admit herself to Johns Hopkins and receive what she thought was normal medical treatment for what ultimately turned out to be cancer of the cervix, speculated to have been caused by HPV given to her from her abusive husband, the struggle of her ailment became unknowingly at the time the cure for millions of people and the legal and ethical issues developed. The legal issues at hand were did Dr. Gey steal Henrietta’s cells for personal gain to have his lifelong dream of duplicating cells literally come to life? How did Johns Hopkins as the institution profit from

Many people would assume that, because of HeLa’s impact on society, the Lacks family is probably very wealthy and well informed about HeLa cells; unfortunately, that is not the case. Not only did the Lacks feel taken advantage of by the medical community, but it wasn’t until an article by Howard Jones in December 1971 that Henrietta’s real name was finally revealed. That same article was used to inform Bobbette Lacks, Henrietta’s daughter-in-law, that the immortal cells she had been reading about in the paper were Henrietta’s. Bobbette was the first member of the Lacks family to learn about the fate of Henrietta’s cells and she immediately ran to the family yelling, “Part of your mother, it’s alive!”(181). The family felt misinformed, confused, betrayed and most of all, angry. In 1976, Mike Rodgers published an article in Rolling Stone that informed the Lacks family that people were buying and selling Henrietta’s cells. The family immediately accused Hopkins of withholding money from them. Lawrence, Henrietta’s eldest son, was quoted saying, “Hopkins say they gave them cells away, but they made millions! It’s not fair! She’s the most important person in the world and her family living in poverty. If our mother so important to

The prologue of the book shows us the real name of the main character to clear off any doubts in the reader’s mind, “beneath the photo, a caption says her name is “Henrietta Lacks, Helen Lane or Helen Larson.” … Her real name is Henrietta lacks.” (Skloot, 1). The Author introduces Henrietta and tells us the reason why she is writing about her, then she goes on to explain what a cell looks like and she compared it to the buzz on a New-York city street, (Skloot, 3), she also mentioned meeting Deborah which gives a clue that she would be of great importance in the writing of this book.

It clearly obvious that to George Guy- the man who discovered HeLa cells- Henrietta was the same black women she was before she died and after she died. During this period of time, there were no set laws regarding that a patient must give permission or be notified if they cells were extracted from them. Even so, being African American and a woman during this extremely racist time period there was guarantee that she would even be told or lied to, similar to the 600 African Americans who were involved in the Tuskegee syphilis experimentation who were actually lied to.

The book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, was a nonfiction story about the life of Henrietta Lacks, who died of cervical cancer in 1951. Henrietta did not know that her doctor took a sample of her cancer cells a few months before she died. “Henrietta cells that called HeLa were the first immortal human cells ever grown in a laboratory” (Skloot 22). In fact, the cells from her cervix are the most important advances in medical research. Rebecca was interested to write this story because she was anxious with the story of HeLa cells. When she was in biology class, her professor named Donald Defler gave a lecture about cells. Defler tells the story about Henrietta Lacks and HeLa cells. However, the professor ended his

When the family expressed concerns about privacy, the scientists removed the sequence from the Internet. Hudson and other NIH leaders then met with the Lacks family. Together, the family and the NIH came to an agreement. Researchers can use the HeLa genome by applying to the NIH for access. A group of scientists and Lacks family members review the applications. From now on, when a scientist publish a research conducted using HeLa cells, it must include a thank you note to the Henrietta Lacks and her family for their everlasting gifts to science (Barone 2). Science has used HeLa cells in many ways. For example, HeLa cells are used to study HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, HeLa cells prove that HPV can cause cervical cancer, there is a vaccine that protects against some strains of the virus now, and HeLa cells are also tested to see how quickly they can absorb nanoparticles, which can suggest new methods for delivering drugs to cancer cells. It’s crazy that Henrietta is technically alive after being dead for 60+ years. Her cancerous cells continue to thrive and multiple till this day, around the world. Her cells have help further the medical field, such as find vaccines and doing further studies for HPV and HIV (Barone 3-4). I’m so happy that Henrietta’s family and Henrietta get the acknowledgement they deserve, but still very disappointed that

Henrietta Lacks: an unknown name up until recent years. A name that had been known to the world only as HeLa; The first two letters of a name that belonged to a poor African American tobacco farmer that unknowingly changed science and life as we know it today. Her life has finally been portrayed in a very intimate story that not only does her life some justice but also transcendentally brings to mind the philosophical issues concerning medical ethics both of the past, present, and the future. In a world of constantly evolving medical advancement, science is a pivotal force that propels ideas forward. Although most will agree that the knowledge and cures found are a positive aspect, there is also a necessary evil that is involved, including

Despite the main focus of the story being on Henrietta Lacks, as a biology student interested in HeLa

This colorful and vibrant woman impacts the world through the contribution of her cells to science as well as by the kindness beheld within her heart for her family, a kindness that permits the emergence of a story untold before, of the woman responsible for the way of the world. Henrietta, although a woman of many treasures, withholds vital information of her daughter Elsie, so as to protect her and the rest of her family. This, the news of her cancer, and other such secrets define Henrietta, yet have no waiver on the view of her family of her. Famous to her family, and cherished by all who know her, Henrietta made an impact greater than her cells, though secrets kept from the sharing of this impact with the family. “...she raised the vial and touched it to her lips. “You’re famous,” she whispered, “Just nobody knows it” (263). As Deborah holds onto the cells, she holds onto the long dreamt memory of her mother, and onto the secret of her identity, the identity that the family knows; this identity connects to the unique human side of her mother, the one for which includes secrets, treasures, anguish, and

Henrietta Lacks is not a common household name, yet in the scientific and medical world it has become one of the most important and talked names of the century. Up until the time that this book was written, very few people knew of Henrietta Lacks and how her cells contributed to modern science, but Rebecca Skloot aimed to change this. Eventually Skloot was able to reach Henrietta’s remaining family and through them she was able to tell the story of not only the importance of the HeLa cells but also Henrietta’s life.

The medical community did not explain to or inform the Lacks family of the HeLa cells; along the way the scientists altogether forgot that Henrietta and her family were not abstractions but actual people. The family felt that this was unethical; they felt their mother was robbed and taken advantage of. Despite the spread of HeLa cells and the whirlwind of new research that followed, there were no recent news or stories about “the birth of the amazing HeLa cell line” (Skloot 58). In the beginning, when Gey had kept the origin of the cells- or Henrietta - a secret, no one knew where the cells had came from and no one cared to ask.