My Sister's Keeper Research Paper

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a novel written by Rabecca Skloot that outlines the life and story of a woman named Henrietta Lacks and her families struggle to discover the truth. Henrietta Lacks was and African American women who was diagnosed with cervical cancer at the age of thirty. A doctor at John Hopkins Hospital examined Henrietta and a biopsy of the cancerous tissue was retrieved. Henrietta received treatment for her cancer, but the cancer was too aggressive and she soon passed away at age of thirty-one, but her cells continue to live today. Henrietta Lack’s cells were unlike any other humans cells ever examined. The cells were able to grow, multiply, and divide outside of the human body in a lab (Skloot 2010). This was a major scientific discovery. Henrietta’s cells, more commonly known to the public as HeLa, aided in the creation of several scientific discoveries and are still used today. It is because of HeLa we have the polio vaccine, a better understanding of cancer, and cells in general. The cells have even been sent into space and have been exposed to nuclear testing and to toxins (BigPicture). Although Henrietta Lacks’s cells have done a lot good, many ethical issues surround her case such as privacy issues, monetary compensation, exploitation, and cell contamination to name a few. Perhaps the most important and controversial ethical issue in Hennrietta’s case resides around consent, or the lack there of.

I believe Anna was right to listen to Kate because she passed away knowing that she was not going to live and was not going to be put someone’s life in danger to save her own. I believe what she did was right because Anna was brought into the world to be a genetic match for her older sister, Kate, who suffers from acute leukemia. Her sister's dependency on her, Anna was unable to live the life she wants. Anna in and out of the hospital constantly, she cannot take part in extracurricular activities such as cheerleading or soccer. Knowing that she will have to donate one of her kidneys to her sister, Anna sues her parents for medical emancipation and the rights to her own body. Believing that she would not survive the surgery, Kate wants to die. Anna wins the case, and due to her sister's wishes does not donate her kidney. In conclusion , it shows that Anna not only fulfilled her sisters wishes, but also stood up for herself because she did not want to go under the knife, and go through a painful process not knowing what could possibly happen to her. It not only shows a symbolic sisters role, but also elaborates on equality for justice, and personally rights. Therefore, I do believe what she did for herself and her sister was the right thing to do because she did not deserve to go through such a difficult

The social contract of nursing is important because it reflects the nursing's code of ethics, which is to provide care to all who are in need, regardless of their cultural, social, or economic standing. The social contract exists because we rely on a guideline to continue to provide ethical care that is within our scope of practice. Unfortunately, in Rebecca Skloot’s (2010) book, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” there were many ethical violations throughout the whole process about the Henrietta Lacks’ cells (HeLa). The author reveals the story about the life of Henrietta Lacks, an African American woman who was diagnosed with a fast-growing cervical cancer at a young age. The cells retrieved from her cervical tumor became the first immortal cell that could survive in the lab and replicate continuously without dying. Without the consent of Henrietta Lacks and her family, these cells later became key components to the development of many groundbreaking inventions such as the polio vaccine and in vitro fertilization. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine the social covenant of nursing in relation to the ethical issues behind the use of the HeLa cells without the patient’s and her family’s consent.

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

Seeing that Kate has leukemia, the only way to save her is for her parents to have a genetically modified baby to be a perfect match donor for Kate. When Anna ponders about herself donating to Kate, she says, “It made me wonder, thought, what would have happened if Kate had been healthy? Certainly, I would not

Do you think it is ethical to design and conceive a child that meets specific genetic requirements?

From the time Anna was born, whenever Kate fell ill and needed a donor, Kate and Anna’s parents did not hesitate to use Anna’s body without asking her. Parents should not harm one child to save another. Anna decides to go to a lawyer and sue her parents for the rights of her own body. The lawyer makes an ethical decision to be a

The book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is full of different perspectives on a significant event. Rebecca Skloot explains the process of african american Henrietta Lacks’s cancer from her point of view along with the doctor’s and the Lacks family’s. Skloot included many issues from the current time period. She heavily addresses the fact that informed consent was not a priority to doctors and scientists and the effect of the abuses that occurred.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is based on the story of Henrietta Lacks, an African-American woman who died of cervical cancer. It was during the time when race was still a big factor in the United States and the principle of medical ethical was in its early stages. One of the main themes of this book surrounded around the ethical issue of informed consent. During an operation to remove the cancerous tumor from Henrietta Lacks, Dr. George Gey took a sample of cancerous tissue from cervix without her consent. Also, her family was not informed of the sample that was taken out from Henrietta and it was years before they found out about the fate of their mother’s cells. The cell that was extracted from Henrietta, known as

The book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot, was written about an African American woman, Henrietta Lacks, who had cervical cancer and then had her cells taken from her without consent. The author, Rebecca Skloot, thoroughly explained how the cells being taken, and Henrietta’s death, affected the lives of the Lacks’ family, along with why it affected them the way that it did. Henrietta was married to David “Day” Lacks and they had five children: Lawrence, Sonny, Zakariyya, Elsie, and Deborah. Rebecca Skloot had the most contact with Deborah, who wanted to know all about her mother and her sister, Elsie. In my opinion, the most significant part of the book was the unethical medical research that played a part in Henrietta’s

By beginning this essay I will talk about a topic inspired by Henrietta Lacks and why her cells were such a big discussion, scientifically and emotionally. It is widely known in science that when we age, our cells die off and create new cells. If we change over time and our cells from five years ago or even two months ago, change too, why the Lacks family was upset the Henrietta’s cells were taken. While her cells became a break through to science, the family still felt there was some wrong doing in the making. People want to have the freedom to decide what is taken from them with permission. It gives us a sense of ethics to what we believe is right or wrong, what is ours to keep and give. I will be writing about the science of our cells and

It’s not fair! She’s the most important person in the world and her family is living in poverty. If our mother is so important to science, why can’t we get health insurance?” (Skloot 168). This passage plays such an important role because it demonstrates not only the effects of poverty in the children’s lives, but also the lack of ethics shown by the hospital and its employees. In just this one passage, it embodies a whole series of wrongdoings that this book is centered around. Hopkins unlawfully took Henrietta’s cells, then they became distributed for a profit, a profit the family received no part of. In fact the family didn’t even know the cells were taken until 25 years later. A whole 25 years they had been going without for many medical needs while others were making a profit hand over fist from her cells. Skloot’s book encapsulates this problem and understanding it plays a key role in understanding not only the Lacks children’s anger, but also Skloot’s purpose for writing the book the way she did.

The Elder Sister is a painting by a well-known French artist William-Adolphe Bouguereau. This work of art was completed by William in 1869. As a result of research made on this painting, it was found that the painting was anonymously given to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston as a gift in 1992. According to the museum, this was a gift of an anonymous lady in memory of her father. Since then this amazing work of art has been a part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine arts, Houston; becoming one of the most notable highlights in the museums painting collection. Its dimensions are 51¼ × 38¼ in (130.2 × 97.2 cm) and the frame is 67½ × 55 × 5½ in (171.5 × 139.7 × 14 cm).

In conclusion, Person introduces two conflicting opinions of the main message, medical ethics. However, there is a bias towards Jenna’s initial view, and the opinions of Lily and Alleys. Overall, the author uses this book as a way of showing us the ever-more relevant debate of medical ethics, but wants us to make our own decision of what view to

The novel “My Sister’s Keeper” by Jodi Picoult explores the medical, legal, ethical and moral issues related to long term illness and discusses some of the bioethical issues around the experimental technique known as pre-implantation genetic diagnosis. The author presents many ethical dilemmas when a couple chooses to genetically engineer a baby to create a bone marrow match for their terminally ill daughter. That creation is Anna Fitzgerald, who is beginning to wonder about her place in the world and questions her on going donations in order to save her sister’s, Kate’s life. Anna feels that her existence is defined by her ability to save her sister. That type of