The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks By Rebecca Skloot

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

Henrietta Lacks was a very loving and caring woman. SHe was always caring for her family especially her cousins and children. Henrietta’s children were the most important thing in the world to her. She loved being with them and caring for them. Henrietta was especially upset when the doctors informed her she could not conceive anymore children. Henrietta always took care of

so it’s their legacy it still lives on with them through their everyday lives today. They were affected by their mother’s death also because with so much attention being on their mothers that must have drastically changed her children’s lives greatly because they have an immortal mother.” Deborah Lacks was still in diapers, her 30-year-old mother, Henrietta Lacks, lay in a segregated ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. The resident gynecologist sewed radium to her cervix in an attempt to knock out the cancer that was killing her” (Skloot 2). Bobbette Lacks, Henrietta Lacks 's daughter-in-law, says that if researchers had told them about HeLa cells, then informed them of future research, her family would have cooperated. But not now. ' 'I would never subject my kids to that, ' ' Bobbette Lacks said. Deborah(heLas daughter) was desperate to know about her mother 's cells. “We’ve got your wife. She’s alive in a laboratory. We’ve been doing research on her for the last 25 years. And now we have to test your kids to see if they have cancer.” (Skloot

Her family had realized that Henrietta had suffered and died, but her cells lived on and that her cells have helped so many people. Henrietta’s son said “I just hope Hopkins and some of the other folks who benefited off of her cells will do something in honor of her and make right with the family”(Skloot, pg. 328). Henrietta is finally getting recognized, which brought unwanted attention to the family from the media, doctors, and researchers that wanted a piece of the HeLa gene line. That affected her daughter, Deborah negatively because she never really knew her mother, but when Deborah first heard of the book she was very excited that the world would finally get to know her mother’s story.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells the story of Henrietta Lacks. In the early 1951 Henrietta discovered a hard lump on the left of the entrance of her cervix, after having unexpected vaginal bleeding. She visited the Johns Hopkins hospital in East Baltimore, which was the only hospital in their area where black patients were treated. The gynecologist, Howard Jones, indeed discovers a tumor on her cervix, which he takes a biopsy off to sent it to the lab for diagnosis. In February 1951 Henrietta was called by Dr. Jones to tell about the biopsy results: “Epidermoid carcinoma of the cervix, Stage I”, in other words, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer. Before her first radium treatment, surgeon dr.

Henrietta Lacks, a woman whose cells have made millions of dollars, but most people don’t know her name, or her story. “She’s usually identified as Helen Lane, but often she has no name at all. She’s simply called HeLa, the code name given to the world’s first immortal human cells – her cells cut from her cervix just months before she died. Her real name is Henrietta Lacks,” (Skloot 1). Through the last few months of her life, she had major struggles with hospitals and scientists. Henrietta was in serious pain throughout the last few months, and the doctor treated her as a specimen. “Henrietta is still a miserable specimen,” (Skloot 66). Another major flaw in Henrietta story is the fact that her family was barely told of her condition of cervical

Henrietta struggled with pain, bumps on her cervix, and abnormal bleeding. Henrietta was admitted into Johns Hopkins Hospital and was diagnosed with cancer in her cervix. Failing to mention her illness to her family, Henrietta began treatment at the hospital and her doctor was more than happy to help her due to his ulterior motive which was to use her

Due to severe pains, on January twenty-ninth, nineteen fifty-one, Henrietta went to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland where she was diagnosed with cervical cancer by Dr. Howard Jones. She was a patient in the “colored ward”. During her eight month long radiation treatments, doctors removed two dime-sized samples of her cancer-ridden cervix without ever informing her, asking her permission and letting her family know. Henrietta Lacks died of cancer a few months after her diagnosis on October fourth, nineteen fifty-one, at Johns Hopkins Hospital at the age of thirty-one, leaving behind her husband

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,

A key aspect of the success to growing the cells were the proper sterilization techniques that were used in the process as well as providing food for the cells created by the plasma of chickens, puree of calf fetus, special salts, and blood from human umbilical cord. This amazing breakthrough has lead to many scientific discoveries all without Henrietta and her family knowing that her cells were used. Henrietta then went on receiving daily X-ray treatments and after a while the doctors claimed she was cancer free, which in fact was wrong. Henrietta soon died after having another huge tumor in her abdomen. After Henriettas death, George Gey requested an autopsy of Henrietta Lacks in order to extract more of her cells.

Henrietta Lacks lived a pretty rough life, because she was black, impoverished, and a barely educated tobacco farmer. Little did she know her life would later make an impact that would change the world of science forever. She was born in 1920 and originally named Loretta Pleasant, but the people that knew her called her Henrietta or even sometimes Henny. She married her first cousin, David Lacks, in 1941 thus earning the title of Henrietta Lacks. As Henrietta grew older she became the mother of five children just ten years later after she was married. Things only became worse from there. She became ill, and she had to seek medical treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital, because it was the only hospital within reasonable distance from her home

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is a nonfiction book about Henrietta Lacks, an African American woman living in the 1920’s-1950’s. When she was thirty, doctors diagnosed Henrietta with cervical cancer. Doctors at John’s Hopkins took her cells without her permission and used these cells to create the first and most widely used cell line, named HeLa after Henrietta’s initials. Soon after the doctors took Henrietta’s cells, she died from her vicious cervical cancer, however her cells lived on in the hands of scientists around the world. Since then, her cells have been mass produced and used to test the polio vaccine, research cancer, AIDS, radiation, and human longevity, and develop drugs for treating herpes, leukemia, and hemophilia. Henrietta’s family did not know anything about the HeLa cell line until twenty-five years after Henrietta’s death, and even after HeLa cells created a multimillion-dollar industry, Henrietta’s family never received compensation. Even now, Henrietta remains widely unknown, and her family can’t afford health insurance.

The scientist working on the HeLa case changed her name and just took the first two letters of each word. This was completely legal and even to this day it's still legal as long as the real person's name is changed. Henrietta's family was poor and was not able to receive proper education. So when they learned of her mother's cells being used for testing they believed her mother was cloned and millions of her were running around. Deborah, Henrietta's youngest daughter,beloved one day she could bump into her mother on the street. "'But I tell you one thing, I don't want to be immortal if it mean living forever, cause then everybody else just die and get old in front of you while you stay the same, and that's just sad.' Then she smiled. " But maybe I'll come back as some HeLa cells like my mother, that way we can do good together out there in the world.'"(3) This quote from Deborah jus helps prove that she didn't understand that her mother was no longer alive and it was just some cells. This is a tragedy because she doesn't deserve to believe her mother has thousands of clones walking around. So although Deborah didn't understand what was happening until much later when a doctor helped to explain it to her, she was still trying to find a connection with her mother. No one deserves to not know about their

Henrietta’s human condition is reservation she didn’t want to tell people about her cancer because she likes to keep her private business a secret and she doesn’t want anyone to worry too much. For example, after Henrietta received her biopsy report “[s]he simply went on with her day as if nothing had happened” (Skloot 31) even with such a frightening health issue like a tumor she did not tell anyone, not even her husband, she acted like everything was fine. Another example of Henrietta acting this way is when, she was getting ready to go back to the hospital, she tells Day, her husband, and her children, “not to worry.. Ain’t nothing serious wrong.. Doctor’s gonna fix me right up.” (31) She is determined hustle through these therapies on her

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a book like a timeline going first her biography, then her childhood to her tragic death; the story of her family over various decades; Skloot’s research and her relationship with the Lacks family, especially Deborah; and the story of the HeLa cells. Tells an interesting story of a clash between race, ethics, and medicine; about a daughter overwhelm with questions about the mother she never knew. Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells were taken without her knowledge in 1951 and they became one of the most important tools in medicine. They were essential for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization, and more. A doctor