What Is The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks?
“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. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks was about an African-American woman named Henrietta Lacks. Her cancer cells were harvested and used to create an immortal cell line for scientific experimentation. Henrietta Lacks was 30 years old at the time she went into Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore in 1951. She sought help
for a so called “knot” on her cervix. Henrietta was soon diagnosed with cervical cancer and was treated with radium and x-ray therapy. In the process, some tissue was removed from Henrietta’s tumor and was sent to a lab to be grown in test tubes. George Gey was the head of the tissue culture department at Hopkins at the time. He had been trying for years to get cells to divide continuously and infinitely so scientists could have an endless supply of human cells to experiment with. In the light of getting his hands on Henrietta Lack’s cells, he soon realized what he had and what a huge breakthrough in medical history this was. During the process, they forgot to mention to Henrietta and her family on what information they had collected with her tissue sample.Maybe it would not have mattered to her family, but they had the right to know and Hopkins and Gey failed to share this important information with them. Henrietta died at the age of 31 leaving her husband and 5 children behind due to her cancer cells spreading rapidly throughout her body. Today you still see and hear about scientists and doctors not relaying vital information on to their patients or family of patients. One example of this is when something may have gone wrong in surgery and a doctor will fail to mention what exactly happened so he does not get a bad reputation or sued. It is rather sad when this happens because nobody deserves to be lied to. Nothing hurts worse than getting lied to and finding out later what really happened. English Novelist George Orwell, once said, “In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act.”
for a so called “knot” on her cervix. Henrietta was soon diagnosed with cervical cancer and was treated with radium and x-ray therapy. In the process, some tissue was removed from Henrietta’s tumor and was sent to a lab to be grown in test tubes. George Gey was the head of the tissue culture department at Hopkins at the time. He had been trying for years to get cells to divide continuously and infinitely so scientists could have an endless supply of human cells to experiment with. In the light of getting his hands on Henrietta Lack’s cells, he soon realized what he had and what a huge breakthrough in medical history this was. During the process, they forgot to mention to Henrietta and her family on what information they had collected with her tissue sample.Maybe it would not have mattered to her family, but they had the right to know and Hopkins and Gey failed to share this important information with them. Henrietta died at the age of 31 leaving her husband and 5 children behind due to her cancer cells spreading rapidly throughout her body. Today you still see and hear about scientists and doctors not relaying vital information on to their patients or family of patients. One example of this is when something may have gone wrong in surgery and a doctor will fail to mention what exactly happened so he does not get a bad reputation or sued. It is rather sad when this happens because nobody deserves to be lied to. Nothing hurts worse than getting lied to and finding out later what really happened. English Novelist George Orwell, once said, “In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act.”