The Ups and Downs of Scientific Progress

The Ups and Downs of Scientific Progress If you were asked what the goal of science and research is, you would most likely respond that they exist for the benefit of the human population. However, this is not, and was not always the case. Taking a closer look at the history of science, particularly from the 1950s on, revels that things have not always been all well and good. It cannot be denied that the world of modern science is an ever-evolving realm that has experienced significant change over the past century, but just what has it evolved from? The answer to that question lies partly in the pages of Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, a nonfiction account of her experiences with the Lacks family. Skloot learns firsthand about the medical research world of Henrietta’s time and how it affected her family in the years following. Over the course of the years since the 1950s, science, especially with regards to medical research, has progressed towards a reformed, more regulated entity. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks provides several examples of how science has adopted more protocols, considering the ethics of their experimentation and the rights of those who are subject to research.
Having been exposed to the unsettling and unethical practices detailed in Immortal Life, it becomes very clear to the reader that ethics were not held in high regard in the history of science. This is due in part to the fact that no established universal ethical norms existed in the 1950s for research done on human subjects. The book offers countless examples of this lack of ethics, but perhaps the one that stands out the most is the 1954 study of Henrietta’s cancer cells carried out on 150 inmates by Chester Southam (Skloot 127-129). These inmates were not fully informed that the cells were cancerous, and thus were wrongly taken advantage of for the sake of science. The need for change in this respect has been noticed, and progress has been made in more recent years. Ethical norms for research have been established, which focus on emphasizing research as a way to attain knowledge and truth, while taking precautions to avoid error (Resnik). These ethical norms also promote moral and social values, like basic human rights and strict compliance with the law (Resnik). In addition, while not directly related to ethical treatment of human subjects, the scientific research field has begun to exhibit more care in experimentation to keep results reliable. This is a step in the right direction, considering the dastardly effects caused by the contamination of HeLa with other cells. As detailed in the text, many scientists were not careful with their research, and mixed or mislabeled cultures (Skloot 139). This would be considered unacceptable in today’s age.
Science has also progressed in terms of the level of respect for the rights of experimentation subjects and of patients in the medical field. Discrimination against African-Americans was quite prevalent in the 1950s, and the field of science was not an exception. A shocking and unnerving example of this presented in the text is the Tuskegee syphilis study, in which hundreds of African American men with syphilis were recruited for a study in which they were not treated but monitored as they slowly died from the disease (Skloot 50).
Great progress has been made to protect and inform those who are involved in scientific testing. Now, human tissue can no longer be taken without permission, and there are strict rules established that govern the use and privacy of information gleaned from research done on samples (Ekmekci, Nacar and Tihan 190). In addition, Informed Consent laws have been developed to fully inform subjects of what to expect from procedures and experiments, and of how any tissue samples taken from them will be used (Pfizer). In the interest of true confidentiality, names and other identifying information are no longer directly associated with stored tissue samples that are either donated for or being kept for scientific research purposes (Pfizer). Science has also progressed in terms of how it is viewed by the general public, and how it is accountable to the public as well. In the text, we see that in history science is not very accountable to the public, and does little to promote trust in it. For example, those who knew Henrietta’s cells came from her were responsible for giving the media a false name when the question of the cells’ origin was posed to them (Skloot 108). Furthermore, the book tells of a story of a doctor was selling the cells of a cancer survivor named John Moore without telling him, and the uncertainty and distrust that Moore felt towards his doctor once consent forms came into play. (Skloot 199-201). This further reinforces the point that there was little accountability in science in the mid 1900s. Improvement in this aspect of science can be seen right in the pages of the book. The planning to hold a special HeLa conference serves as an excellent indicator that as time passes, researchers are willing to admit that wrongs were done in the past and that they realize the public is aware of those wrongs.
Having read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, one simply cannot ignore the progress of science as it relates to the medical field. This book is without a doubt an excellent glance into the history of science from the research and medicine perspectives. Comparing the scientific landscape in Henrietta’s day to that of modern day, it is quite clear how it progressed from a questionable, unregulated entity with poor public relations into a more ethical, regulated process that gives more focus to protecting human rights.

Works Cited
Ekmekci, Sumeyye, Osman Nacar and Tarik Tihan. "Who Owns These Tissues? General Principles on the Use of Material Submitted to Pathology Departments for Healthcare, Education and Research Purposes." Turkish Journal of Pathology 28.3 (2012): 189-194.
Pfizer. "Use of Human Tissue." 2012. Pfizer. 28 November 2012 <http://www.pfizer.com/research/research_clinical_trials/policy_use_human_tissue.jsp>.
Skloot, Rebecca. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. New York: Random House, Inc, 2011.
Resnik, David B. "What is Ethics in Research and why is it Important?" The National Institue of Environmental Health Sciences. 28 November 2012 <http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/resources/bioethics/whatis/>.

Cited: Ekmekci, Sumeyye, Osman Nacar and Tarik Tihan. "Who Owns These Tissues? General Principles on the Use of Material Submitted to Pathology Departments for Healthcare, Education and Research Purposes." Turkish Journal of Pathology 28.3 (2012): 189-194. Pfizer. "Use of Human Tissue." 2012. Pfizer. 28 November 2012 &lt;http://www.pfizer.com/research/research_clinical_trials/policy_use_human_tissue.jsp&gt;. Skloot, Rebecca. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. New York: Random House, Inc, 2011. Resnik, David B. "What is Ethics in Research and why is it Important?" The National Institue of Environmental Health Sciences. 28 November 2012 &lt;http://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/resources/bioethics/whatis/&gt;.