Analysis Of Tissue By Henrietta Lacks

Much medical advancement would not have been possible without cancer cells from Henrietta Lacks. While these HeLa cells are infamous in the medical community, the story behind them was barely known by any until Rebecca Skloot uncovered it.1 Information about Henrietta Lacks uncovers a history of consent not being asked for, and certainly not being given, but because of the cells, medical discoveries were made without her family’s knowledge.1 It brings to light the idea that while cells are a part of a person’s body, once they are out of the human body there is no more ownership. Without informed consent though, is it still owned by the person whose cells they are?

The scientific community and the media reduced Henrietta to a tool and an idea, and used the rest of the Lacks family in the same way.

"Doctors took her cells without asking. Those cells never died. A quote that sticks with me weeks after reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. In this novel, Rebecca Skloot, the author was in a biology class when she first heard about HeLa cells. Little did she know she was uncovering the unknown history behind HeLa cells. The cells were taken from Henrietta Lacks a wife, mother and tobacco farmer from Virginia. One day in 1951 she checked herself in John Hopkin’s Hospital complaining about a “knot in her womb” and unusual bleeding. After signing a form stating “I hereby give consent to the staff of The Johns Hopkins Hospital to perform any operative procedures and under any anesthetic either local or general that they may deem necessary

The cells were kept alive long enough to allow the researchers to go in depth with studies and examinations. The ethical issue was, like stated before, that the Lacks family did not give physicians permission to take samples of her cells. But during that time permission was not required and that is why they were able to take the samples. In the court case of California v. Regents of UC in 1990 it was ruled that a person’s discarded tissue was not their property and could be used. The ethical concerns are still around today because recently researchers published their results and this affected the family. Things like lack of respect for the Lacks, just and even race and social class come into the conversation because of the use of her tissue without her consent.

Her cells, taken without her consent from a cervical cancer biopsy, became the first human immortal cell line. Rebecca Skloot’s book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, tells about her life, her cells and her family. It discusses both the stories of the Lacks family and the history behind the HeLa cell line. HeLa has been the cornerstone of numerous medical advances. For nearly 60 years, the body of the woman who revolutionized modern medicine laid in an unmarked grave in Clover,

Henrietta Lacks was an African American woman who died of cervical cancer in 1951, when ethics were not so important to doctors as much as the breaking medical discovery. Henrietta's cells were taken from her without consent from her or her family, also known as HeLa cells. Lack's cells have made an extensive impact on the world today. Now, the knowledge we have about her cells being took from her, makes the world question the ethics that were set in stone in this time and place. Henrietta Lacks has made a permanent impression to all who know about her story.

I begin writing this essay about Henrietta Lacks by discussing option number three outlined in this project. Before this class had begun, I could not tell you how or why such vaccines came to be. I can almost relate to the author in the beginning of the book when she is in her college biology course and has no idea who Henrietta Lacks is. This book outlines so many big topic issues, and I feel they all play a role in how Henrietta 's cells were recovered, and stored. From my own personal viewpoint, I feel one of the biggest issues for myself personally, is the bioethics of it all.

In both "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" and "The Lives of a Cell" they discuss cancer and how through the use of cells,we could create the right medicine. In "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" the author talks about the immortal cell line and how doctors took it without her permission. Henrietta's cells have made history in the advancement of not only cancer treatment but other illnesses.The doctors that cut out small fragments of Henrietta's cells didn't even ask for consent.Most people believe the doctors didn't see Henrietta's as a person that's why the doctors believed they did not need consent. Whether due to ethnic reasons we do not know, but we do know that Henrietta's cells still live on today and her body was not her own.

In 1951, Henrietta Lacks went to John Hopkins Hospital because of pain and bleeding in her abdomen and was diagnosed with cervical cancer. During one of her radiation treatments, doctors took samples from Henrietta’s cervix without her knowledge to see if her cells would grow in culture and it did. Her cells were the first immortal cells to grow in culture. From there everything changed. Henrietta’s cells were used to create the polio vaccine, they went in space to what would happen to human cells in zero gravity, and many more. But as HeLa cells were bought, sold, and used for these scientific researches her family did not receive any money from it. Many people think that they should receive financial compensation but they should not.

Cells continue to be the most basic units of life. They can grow, develop, and they reproduce. Working with cells can help scientists get a better understanding of how they can help society. Since these cells come from organisms that were living or were once living, scientists should have access to the cells that they need to do research. In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, some scientists stole cells from Henrietta Lacks, a black female woman, without her or her family's permission.

“I think people are morally obligated to allow their bits and pieces to be used to advance knowledge to help others” (Korn). Different people have opposing opinions on the topic of whether or not patients or doctors own the body tissues after it’s been removed from the patient. Ownership is the act, state, or right of possessing something. Tissue ownership is different from ownership because once it leaves your body, you no longer own it. Contributing your tissues to the science world is superior because you can speed up medical advances, avoid litigation, and become a better individual by contributing to science and society.

The book is about Henrietta Lacks and the immortal cell line, known as HeLa, that came from Lacks's cervical cancer cells in 1951. The book is notable for its science writing and dealing with ethical issues of race and class in medical research. Skloot said that some of the information was taken from the journal of Deborah Lacks, Henrietta Lacks's daughter, as well as from "archival photos and documents, scientific and historical

For example, the text shows how Henrietta and her family could have avoided this situation. “Today it’s possible for scientists to immortalize cells by exposing them to certain viruses or chemicals, but very few cells have become immortal on their own as Henrietta’s did” (Skloot pg.213). This quote shows that overtime scientists were able to make advancements in technology and their discoveries made cells immortal. Eventually, this became possible and proves that what happened to Henrietta and her family was redundant.

The woman commonly known as Henrietta Lacks is a woman who's cells were unrightfully used by scientists for their own benefit. Although her cells have caused great achievements and scientific discoveries in science she was never credited for her unauthorized donation of cells. Henrietta Lacks might not even be her real name, and because of this the cells have been referred to as the HeLa cells. Consent has always been a major issue in scientific discovery and scientific testing, but no one specifically gave the scientists promotion to remove cells from Henrietta Lacks dead body.

From the findings, it is clear that the question of whether a person whose cell line is used for scientific research should be informed and compensated, is a very controversial subject. Every individual’s case would be different depending on the situation and lots of questions remain unanswered. Who provides the compensation? How much compensation is provided and who decides the value of it? Should everyone that has their cell line studied be compensated, or just the individuals that have discoveries made from them? If this issue became a serious concern, it would raise a lot of debate due to the various factors that are involved within the situation. As shown in Henrietta Lacks’ case, a cell line can be extremely detrimental to the survival