The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks By Rebecca Skloot

The story “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” that’s written by Rebecca Skloot. The author talks about a story happened in the 1950’s, and it’s effects still happening. The aspect that controls the story is power of privilege. In all places, in all times, power of privilege is specified for people who called elite. They get this power to control situations, but it does not mean they all deserve handling this power. This power created to control everything and improve or develop it. It is just considered under the actions that seem like what Skloot mentions in the story, but this power is related to all things in our life. Now, let’s go back to the story, and see the effects of that power under the wrong usage. At that period of time, the power of privilege was controlled by whites. The separation that was between blacks and whites, and the arrogance that some white people had encouraged them to insult black people. Dr. George Gey is the one of the doctors who used their power to do something no one at that time knew it’s consequences, which is taking the cells. On the other hand, Henrietta whose cells were stolen with out her permission. Finally, the results mostly affected Deborah which is Henrietta’s daughter.

Due to the fact that Henrietta’s cells were the first human cells grown in a lab that did not die after a few cell divisions, they could be used for conducting many experiments. Her cells were considered “immortal”. This was a major breakthrough in medical and biological research. One major breakthrough was the development of a vaccine for polio. To test the vaccine the cells were quickly put into mass production in the first-ever cell production factory. Another enormous breakthrough was the successful cloning of human cells in 1955. Demand for the HeLa cells grew quickly. Since they were put into mass production, Henrietta’s cells have been mailed to scientists around the globe from “research into cancer, AIDS, the effects of radiation and toxic substances, gene mapping, and countless other scientific pursuits.” (Smith, 2002, "Wonder Woman: The Life, Death, and Life After Death of Henrietta Lacks, Unwitting Heroine of Modern Medical Science".) HeLa cells have been used to test human sensitivity to tape, glue, cosmetics, and many other products. Scientists have grown some 20 tons of her cells, and there are almost 11,000 patents involving HeLa cells. (Batts, 2010)

Did you know the Nazis have been doing research on diseases? In the book, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” Skloot explains how the Nazis are associated with using prisoners to do research on diseases.

In her book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot discusses how the unfortunate diagnosis of cancer for one woman resulted in one of the most influential discoveries in the biomedical sciences. The use of HeLa cells has played a role in some of the largest scientific breakthroughs since George Gey discovered how well they can grow in culture. On the other hand, Skloot’s work also provides a look at the lives of Henrietta Lacks’ descendants. One characteristic that everyone in this family shares is a dedication to religion and spirituality. This juxtaposition between science and religion presents the body and its constituent cells in a unique way. It provides multiple dimensions to how people view bodies. Specifically,

Maheen Ismail Mrs.Lyons Ap Language and composition July 23, 2015 Henrietta Lacks, known to scientists as HeLa, begins as just another involuntary research subject to the scientific community, "everyone in his lab saw Henrietta's sample as something tedious"(33). It is not until later that scientists realize that HeLa can be a vital asset to new scientific studies. In the process of the HeLa cells being developed, observed, and researched, Henrietta knows nothing of it, nor does she give permission to extract her cells. Henrietta and her family are left in the dark, while her cells are being sold for millions and bringing fame to many scientists. In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Rebecca Skloot shows the tragic death of the loving mother/wife, due to cervical cancer.

In Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, she told the story of how a

the life of a very special woman and what she has done for us in the medical field today.

Henrietta was bleeding abnormally. Her husband took her to John Hopkins hospital. Henrietta was diagnosed with cervical cancer, but they had never seen something like hers. Sadly, Henrietta died but John Hopkins Hospital discovered her cells multiplied twice, every 24 hours. Medicine has changed forever ever since her mortal cells were discovered. Her cells were sent out to different places around the U.S Europe, Asia, and India. Her cells helped develop the polio vaccines, they were able to run many neutralization tests on her cells. For 30 years they had been in search of cells that lived outside of the human body, and they had finally made it. Scientists were able to clone her cells. The cells helped them gain information on how viruses attacked human cells. Her cells were also used to see how steroids worked for chemotherapy and tuberculosis. They were so amazed by her cells that they thought they had found the cure to cancer. Her family found out about their mother’s cells in 1976 when her story was published in a Rolling Stone magazine with her real name. HELA is the name they gave her cells short for Henrietta Lacks. HELA cells became very efficient for many different uses in all. Today, HELA cells have saved many people

Within the novel The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks written by Rebecca Skloot, the exponential growth of research due to the introduction of HeLa cells is exemplified through the vast scientific breakthroughs achieved. Before the presence of HeLa cells scientist had an endless amount of questions and theories but were unable to test their hypothesis due to lack of a perfect test subject. HeLa cells grew in almost every medium and most importantly, they grew fast. HeLa cells were especially useful when trying to study viruses, and the effects of certain antibiotics and other medicinal substances. Part 3 of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks provides multiple instances where the use of HeLa cells was detrimental for medical research. One major use for Henrietta's cell was the medical

Henrietta's family did not know anything about what HeLa cells were except it was making George Gey which was Henrietta's doctor who worked at Hopkins Hospital very wealthy. This made the Lacks' family very upset since they did not know about the profit that was being made off of Henrietta's cells.

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.

Henrietta's cells were researched on and everyone would talk about it.  These powerful cells contributed to virology, cell culture and genetics.  Without henrietta's cells they wouldn't have found the cure for polio, and many other diseases without a cure at that time. Henrietta Lacks is one of the most important people in 20th century of medicine. She was a big help to find different cures. Most of this research went on without anyones permission and not letting anyone know about it. It was not until an article was published about Henrietta Lacks and HeLa that her family found out how meaningful their family was to the science world.  Though scientific in topic, the story is human, touching on matters of race, socioeconomics, ethics, love and

Researches and doctors violated informed consent requirement they have to say to their patients. The Lacks family never knew what happened to their mother till years later. The book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot the doctors and researchers took Henrietta’s cells without anyone's knowledge. The doctors took away her right of saying no because they didn't want to hear it. Henrietta’s daughter got talked into being tested for cancer, if though there wasn't a test for that. They took advantage of their patients to do research. According to Skloot Deborah said, “she’d heard that stories about Hopkins snatching black people for research, and sh read and article in Jet about the Tuskegee study that suggested doctors might

Rebecca Skloot is a dedicated and talented American author who is famous for her stunning debut novel, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.” This novel was immediately a success and launched Skloot to fame in the literary world. The success and critical acclaim of her book can be attributed to her creative upbringing, scientific education, undying dedication, and all those elements together creates an educational and fascinating read that has had universal praise and acclaim.

One of my summer reading books was a nonfiction called "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks", by Rebecca Skloot. I found this book in my brother's room and the title immediately grabbed my attention. I was confused about how anyone or anything could be immortal. I read the description on the back of the book and discovered that her cells have been perpetually multiplying and dividing since 1951. I was hooked and intrigued to figure out the life story of the women behind the immortal cells. I finished this book in a matter of two days, completing a great portion of the book in a car ride to Albion college. I would recommend this book to my peers because HeLa cells (named after the first two letters of Henrietta Lacks first and last name)