Rebecca Skloot Research Paper

Rebecca Skloot, however, used a different perspective in her portrayal of Lacks. This is evident in the way in which she conducted her research and the way she wrote the book. Skloot’s book, The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks, included both the “scientific element concerns the origin and the subsequent uses of the HeLa cell line of cultured cancer cells” (Harper, 2011, p. 463) and the social and

Henrietta Lacks is not a common household name, yet in the scientific and medical world it has become one of the most important and talked names of the century. Up until the time that this book was written, very few people knew of Henrietta Lacks and how her cells contributed to modern science, but Rebecca Skloot aimed to change this. Eventually Skloot was able to reach Henrietta’s remaining family and through them she was able to tell the story of not only the importance of the HeLa cells but also Henrietta’s life.

The topic of Henrietta Lacks and what her cells did for science is very well known. Henrietta Lacks is an African-American women who developed cervical cancer that spread throughout her body. Information gathered by Rebecca Skloot and many other researchers suggests that scientists took a sample of Henrietta’s cancerous cells without her permission. These HeLa cells were the first successful group of cells to stay alive outside of a living body, and continued on to help the world of medicine in many ways.

In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot follows the story of the famous HeLa cell line, introducing us to the woman behind these cells, the family she came from, and how her cells swept the field of science. This book tells the story of how race, poverty, and the practices used in the fields of science and medicine in the last 100 years has led to the many of the modern day innovations we have, all thanks to the HeLa cells.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is an amazingly captivating book about an African American woman who died in 1951 of cervical cancer, whose cells became the first in history to be able to survive and replicate endlessly outside of the human body. Skloot covers the true story on the impact Henrietta’s cells, also known as HeLa cells, had on her family and the world of science. Although I was intrigued by the entire book and the concept of HeLa cells, what truly provoked me to want to further research the topic was the injustice Henrietta’s family was forced to face, and how they learned to cope with it.

When Rebecca Skloot first finds out about Henrietta Lacks by her college professor, she is captivated by Lacks and wants to know more about her. The book portrays Skloot’s adventures as she researches and unfolds new truths behind the HeLa story. Lacks’ story associates a personal family story with various debates over poverty, racism, scientific research, and moral ethics. Henrietta Lacks was a black woman who died in 1951 at the age of 31 due to numerous tumors infested in her body. Before she died, a sample of her tumor was taken without her consent and was later used for medical research.

Deborah Lacks, Henrietta’s youngest daughter, is an important character as she establishes herself as a prominent feature in Skloot’s story as she symbolizes the Lacks family in their learning of the HeLa cells and the immense betrayal the family experiences as a result. George Gey was the scientist at John Hopkins University who had harvested Henrietta’s cells and developed the techniques to grow her cells in a laboratory. Then there are Lawrence, Sonny, and Zakariyya, the three sons of Henrietta, who collectively are important in the story as they provide their opinions and viewpoints that are vital in understanding the story of Henrietta Lacks’ life and how it resulted that her cells spread and were developed. David “Day” Lacks is Henrietta’s husband, and also cousin, that is important to the story in his contributions to the story of Henrietta’s

In the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Henrietta the purpose of the book is to tell the story of Henrietta Lacks, her illness, and how she completely changed medicine. The speaker is the author, Rebecca Skloot a prolific freelance writer. The audience is a wide variety of readers, since the book is extremely popular and is now often taught in schools and universities. The subject is Henrietta Lacks, a woman who died of cervical cancer in 1951. and HeLa, the line of cells taken from Henrietta that were the first line of cells to reproduce and survive in the lab indefinitely.

In the first part of the book, Skloot tells us almost the whole life of Henrietta, her early years, her life with Day and the kids, and the whole process when she was diagnosed with cancer. However, if we think more deeply, throughout the whole story she is trying to show us how unethical doctors were back in those days, and the social and health issues that black people used to have. But more than that, what Rebecca really wants throughout the whole section is that we know how important were the HeLa cells to the medical word, that without Henrietta immortal cells health science would not be as advanced as it is today. Therefore, she wants us to be thankful to live in a time with so many opportunities, and to be thankful with Henrietta for

The book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, shows that an individual can stand up to wrongdoings and make a difference in society. In this case, that person is the author of this book, Rebecca Skloot. She goes out of her way to conduct extensive research all because she notices how wrong it is for society to not recognize such an important person. And she does make a difference. Because of the book that she wrote, so many more people are now aware of who Henrietta Lacks was, and what her cells did for science.

When I first heard about the book "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks", I thought it was just a reading assignment when I was in high school that I had to complete for a grade. As I began reading I became particularly interested in Henrietta Lacks and the HeLa cells. In "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks", Rebecca Skloot talks about Henrietta Lacks and how her cells were taken without her permission, and how her family suffered afterwards. Skloot shows how medicine and science were seen back in the 1950's compared to now.

The effect the discovery and creation of the HeLa cells made on the science community and Henrietta’s family had a domino effect. Both had different opinions and beliefs on the matter; this led to some difficult questions asked of the family and of the medical community. Due to the new and advanced methods of experimentation, the HeLa cells made to to the field of science, the scientific community and the media failed to remember that Henrietta and her family were not abstractions but actual people. Rebecca Skloot, however, took into account the Lack’s family, she inquired both the history of the HeLa cells as well as the Lacks family, treating them as actual people with inalienable rights.

She looks straight into the camera and smiles, hands on hips, dress suit neatly pressed, lips painted deep red” (1). Skloot captivates her readers through these first few sentences. A million things run through the reader’s head when first picking up this astounding novel. Who is the woman? Why haven’t you met her? Why do you have the photo to begin with? These questions are answered shortly after. This photo is of Henrietta Lacks, often referred to as Helen Lane or Helen Larson. This strong woman that is posing for this photograph is the complete reason why medicine has evolved so greatly in the past half century. Her cells have saved an overwhelming number of lives throughout these years; however, the only problem with this is she will never get the recognition she

“If you pretty up how people spoke and change the things they said, that’s dishonest” said Henrietta’s relatives to Rebecca Skloot, the author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. That statement is the essence of this book; everything in it was written very honest and course. This story was written very coherently, for nonfiction literature. It addresses the issue of scientist ethics, all while telling an enthralling story. The book delves into the history and story of Henrietta Lacks, and the origin of the HeLa cells. Overall the book was deep, interesting, and wonderfully informative.

“The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks” written by Rebecca Skloot exposes the truth about a colored woman, Henrietta Lacks, who died from cancer leaving five children and a husband behind. Before her death doctors took her cells,without her or her family consent, to do there own research and experiments. They discovered that her cells were immortal, they became the first immortal cells known as the HeLa cells..After the discoverment the Lacks family were never told that Henrietta Lacks cells were used, bought and sold. Through the HeLa cells the scientist had made money while Henrietta kids were mistreated and were in poor situations.It wasnt till 25 years later that the Lacks family found out about the HeLa cells doing miracles. Rebecca Skloot though “The immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” was able to explain the unethical situations that the Lacks family faced after Henrietta’s death.