Henrietta Lacks was a beautiful, strong, independent, black woman who died of cervical cancer in 1951. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her ancestors. She was known to be a very kind, loving, and helpful young woman. Her children, husband and cousins loved her. Everyone knew Henrietta was a very cheerful person and was always willing to help others. It all changed when she started feeling sick. She described her pain as “A knot”, she said. “It hurt something awful- when that man want to get with me, Sweet Jesus aren’t them but some pains” (The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, 2010:24). On January 29, 1951, Henrietta was first taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital because of the knot she had. Johns Hopkins was her only choice fro a hospital since it was the only one near them that treated black patients. That day, Henrietta learned she had a malignant epidermis carcinoma of the cervix. But her cancer was different. Little did she know that her cancer cells would be saving lives of many others in the following years.…
Fact 1: Henrietta Lacks was born Loretta Pleasant on August 1, 1920 in Roanoke Virginia, later passed on October 4, 195 due to cancer. She was sometimes erroneously called Henrietta Lakes, Helen Lane or Hennie. She was an African-American woman who was the unwitting source of cells (from her cancerous tumor) which were cultured by George Otto Gey to create the first known human immortal cell line for medical research. This is now known as the HeLa cell line.…
This is the reason why Henrietta’s cells were immortal and kept growing. A documentary on HeLa cells and Henrietta’s contribution finally gave credit to the Lacks family. The family is still upset because they can’t even afford healthcare but their mothers cells are used everywhere. As Skloot was writing the book many people tried to prevent the family from even talking to her. Eventually Skloot gains Deborah’s trust. The stress of all that has happened in Deborah’s life causes her to become sick and she eventually has a stroke. Although The HeLa cells have led to many great contributions in the studies of viruses the book leaves the reader wondering how the family of Henrietta could have been treated so poorly considering Henrietta’s huge contribution. Henrietta’s case has also had monumental effects on laws about how patients are treated, because of Henrietta patients must give their consent rather than be tested on without their knowledge. Henrietta has had a huge role in science and for this along with her cells her contributions will live on…
Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. Henrietta was a poor southern tobacco farmer who was emitted to the hospital and had her cells taken without her knowledge. Her cells became the most important tools in medicine. HeLa were the first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, and are still alive today. Due to research they say that if you could pile all HeLa cells ever grown onto a scale, they’d weigh more than 50 million metric tons—as much as a hundred Empire State Buildings. HeLa cells helped develop the polio vaccine, uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bombs effects, helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning and gene mapping, and have…
Even though she was not informed about the samples that were taken from her as well as her family didnt know. Its because of those samples that scienetist were able to use them to test againnst other peoples samples to find cures for deadly diseases. Eventually Henrietta’s family was informed about what was going on because they were called for samples of their blood and other mateirlas. At that point they found out about HeLla and how it works and how it was named and started becacuse of henrietta even thoun they didn ask for her consent form her or her family. But they were honored by the National foundation for Cancer Research and the Smithsonian Institution. There was a book written about Henrietta by Rebecca Skloot called “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”. There was also talk about a film based on Ms. Skloot book that was going to be developed. Henrietta’s sons and granddaughter were allowed to work on it and be co-executive producer on. There were so many ways they wanted to remeber her as well as honor her. In 2010 she was given a head stone for her unmark grave as another way to appreciate her and all that she has done form a Dr. Roland at…
1) "Though no one had told Henrietta that TeLinde was collecting samples or asked if she wanted to be a donor – Wharton picked up a sharp knife and shaved two dime-sized pieces of tissue from Henrietta’s cervix" (pg. 33). Lacks's cells have been an immense help to the medical world, but even with that, it was not justifiable to remove her cells without her knowing. It was wrong for Dr. Lawrence Wharton, Jr. to remove the tissue from Lack because she was not given informed consent about the removal of her cells; therefore, preventing her from making an autonomous decision. According to Kant, it is vital to treat people as means rather than ends (powerpoint slide 2). It may be argued that it was justifiable to remove a sample of tissue from Lacks because they have played a key role in many medical breakthroughs;…
Henrietta Lacks had a large, religious family who lived their entire life in poverty. She and her husband, Day, grew up together on a tobacco farm, and received little education as children. Day was a handworker and provided for the family as best he could; however, he was unfaithful to his wife on multiple occasions. Throughout their marriage, Day had affairs where he would pick up sexually transmitted infections and spread them to Henrietta. They began having children when Henrietta was only 14 years old, and they had a total of five children together. Henrietta loved her children and would have done anything for them. Their oldest daughter, Elise, had epilepsy and was nonverbal. When Elise became too much for Henrietta to handle on her own, the doctors convinced her to send Elise to Crownsville State Hospital, which was for the insane. “A bit of Henrietta died the day they sent Elise away, that losing her was worse than anything else that happened to her” (Skloot 45).…
With Henrietta Lacks’s cell’s, scientists were able to make vaccines, drugs etc. “Like guinea pigs and mice, Henrietta’s cells have become the standard laboratory workhorse” (4). Her cells have been on the moon, in nuclear bombs, and helped make the polio vaccine. What surprised me was that scientists didn’t even get permission from Henrietta or her family to use the cells, and yet, people have been getting richer and richer from them. While others are getting richer after using the cells of Henrietta Lacks, her family has not gotten a cent. Like Deborah (her daughter) said, “…if our mother cells done so much for medicine, how come her family can’t afford to see no doctor?”…
Henrietta Lacks was born on August 1, 1920, in Roanoke, Virginia. Lacks died of cervical cancer on October 4, 1951, at age 31. Cells taken from her body without her knowledge were used to form the HeLa cell line. Lacks's case has sparked legal and ethical debates over the rights of an individual to his or her genetic material and tissue.…
“For me, it’s writing a book and telling people about this story.” Freelance science writer who specializes in science and medicine, Rebecca Skloot, started her writing career with her first book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. This book took Rebecca more than a decade to research and write. It instantly hit the New York Times best-seller list where it has remained for more than four years since its publication in 2010.…
Those who face financial hardship deal with many obstacles in their life. Putting food on the table, paying bills, and receiving the basic necessities of life becomes difficult with little money. But other disadvantages not often thought of, such as one’s ability to make choices regarding their well-being, also negatively affect individuals and their families. In the 20th century scientific novel The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot reveals through the rhetorical device of pathos how poverty leads to a lack of education that causes people to make poor decisions about their health.…
Henrietta died when Deborah was just a baby and she endured a life of abuse following her mother’s death. Deborah sought answers to her questions of who her mother was, but found none that satisfied her curiosity (Skloot 110-117). She was determined to find answers though, and as an adult she joined with Rebecca to uncover the truth about her mother and the HeLa cells. However, due to Deborah’s lack of education and her seeming emotional and mental instabilities (Skloot 286-288), it still seems that Rebecca emerges the ultimate hero of the story. Ultimately, she was able to uncover information about Henrietta and share it with Deborah in a way Deborah was able to understand (Skloot…
In movies, television shows, and books, countless supermen, superwomen, and cartoon heroes have been portrayed as escaping death, of being immortal. But, they have all been fictional characters and figments of imaginations, because as we all know, no one can live forever. In the book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot introduces us to Henrietta and her life and tells us the story of the immortal HeLa cells. In essence, Henrietta is a superwoman, a real-life hero who has transcended race, advanced medicine, and saved millions of lives, without even knowing it.…
There are many reasons why I enjoy this book; one of them is because of the fine amount of courage, romance and superstition. Understandably, all of these of course, are children’s cases of them. His courage is the manliest attribute. His love and superstition is comically his most childish attribute. If I may, I will reach into the book and find where these sections are in the text.…
Humans are born with a fundamental desire to explore the world around them. As one…