Who Is Henrietta Lack?

Elie Wiesel has stated “We must not see any person as an abstraction. Instead, we must see in every person a universe with its own secrets, with its own treasures, with its own sources of anguish, and with some measure of triumph” (as cited in Skloot, 2010, p. 1). This paper will examine the many ways in which Henrietta Lacks, a relatively poor African woman whose cells were extracted from her without any consent, was viewed primarily as an abstraction rather than a person by the scientific community and the media; and the consequences that ensued as a result.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a book written by Rebecca Skloot that touches on many important issues. Of the dozens of issues referenced in the book, the one that stands out the most to me is bioethics. Bioethics is “the study of the typically controversial ethical issues emerging from new situations and possibilities brought about by advances in biology and medicine.” Bioethics plays a huge role in the story of Henrietta Lacks.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a very powerful and moving book that should be read by all lay people, young and old, doctors, scientists and especially researchers in the medical field. They have an obligation to read this book so that history should not repeat itself. Anyone that wants to study DNA genes and cells should get written consent from the patients and their families. Rebecca Skloot, takes us on an extraordinary adventure about the life and death of the protagonist Henrietta Lacks; who was a southern “colored” person diagnosed with cervical cancer during her stay at John Hopkins Hospital during the 1950s. After a year of “Doctors examining her inside and out, pressing her stomach, inserting new catheters into her bladder…..needles

Brief Synopsis The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is story of a poor black woman whose cells were taken away from her without her knowledge in 1951. HeLa was born in the 1920’s and died in the 1950’s due to having cervical cancer. Her cells that were taken was used to launch the cell line called HeLa that has been used in medical research. Lack’s cells never died and became one of the most vital tools in medicine today and has developed the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and many more.

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

The book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, was a nonfiction story about the life of Henrietta Lacks, who died of cervical cancer in 1951. Henrietta did not know that her doctor took a sample of her cancer cells a few months before she died. “Henrietta cells that called HeLa were the first immortal human cells ever grown in a laboratory” (Skloot 22). In fact, the cells from her cervix are the most important advances in medical research. Rebecca was interested to write this story because she was anxious with the story of HeLa cells. When she was in biology class, her professor named Donald Defler gave a lecture about cells. Defler tells the story about Henrietta Lacks and HeLa cells. However, the professor ended his

Henrietta Lacks is woman, whose cells have been used for 63 years after her death in 1951, and will continue to be used as long as they are continue to grow. Henrietta Lacks was an African American woman who was born in the south, who married her cousin and moved up north. After giving birth to her last child, she finds that she has cancer. The doctors took a sample of her cancer cells without her permission, and now have millions of dollars but the family is still hasn’t received the money they are rightfully entitled to. Many of healthcare and entitlements that are around today, are due to the ill treatment of Henrietta and her family. Still to this day, there is very little known about Henrietta Lacks, even with the book out, and she has

Henrietta Lacks was a black woman that grew up in the rural segregated south; her lifespan was from 1921 to1951. She grew up on her grandfather Lacks tobacco farm after her mother died giving birth to her tenth child. From the time she was four years old, she picked, cleaned, and harvested tobacco leaves, spending little or no time in school; she had at most a 6th grade education. By the time she was fourteen, Henrietta had given birth

There are many ways people can contribute to science. Most of those ways don’t usually result in their own harm, but some people like, Henrietta Lacks, Douglas Mawson, and Phineas Gage endured adversity in their course to contribute, whether or not they knew it, to the growth of our knowledge. First, Henrietta Lacks was a middle aged women who died at the age of 31 due to metastasized cervical cancer which is something she suffered through, but she didn’t suffer for science; according the article “Immortal Cells, Enduring Issues” the doctors used her for medical research without her family’s permission. Next, Douglas Mawson suffered a brutal journey through an Antarctic Expedition, as stated in the article by David Roberts, “Into the Unknown”. Finally, Phineas Gage endured adversity

Henrietta Lacks: an unknown name up until recent years. A name that had been known to the world only as HeLa; The first two letters of a name that belonged to a poor African American tobacco farmer that unknowingly changed science and life as we know it today. Her life has finally been portrayed in a very intimate story that not only does her life some justice but also transcendentally brings to mind the philosophical issues concerning medical ethics both of the past, present, and the future. In a world of constantly evolving medical advancement, science is a pivotal force that propels ideas forward. Although most will agree that the knowledge and cures found are a positive aspect, there is also a necessary evil that is involved, including

This research paper is based on the findings from the book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”. What you will read and come to know is nonfiction. I wish I could put the pictures of what I have seen and read together here for you to perhaps get a better understanding. A story based on not Henrietta’s life being that of immortality, but rather cancer cells removed from her body without her knowledge. These were the first cancer cells to reproduce outside of her body. You will come to know about Henrietta, her cancer, her cells, and her immortal life. Perhaps we can all learn to appreciate life in greater means of appreciation after reading and knowing the life and immortal afterlife of Henrietta Lacks. You will learn about a woman, who like us, had a family, and ended up not being able to truly live life to its fullest. Making us all realize just how cancer is and the amazing research that came from being able to reproduce her cells. Not just for cancer but for various other illnesses that plague so many of us. My hope is that you take away from this a better understanding of a time we do not know, for the ups and downs of science and the possibility of immortal life.

Rebecca Skloot’s bestseller, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, begins with a quote from World War II concentration camp survivor Elie Wiesel, “We must not see any person as an abstraction. Instead, we must see in every person a universe with its own secrets, with its own treasures, with its own source of anguish” (Wiesel qtd. in Skloot n. pag.). This quote serves as a preview of the book and its underlying moral purposes, as Henrietta Lacks and her family are continually treated as objects without rights to their privacy and without regards to their worth or feelings. The dehumanization of the Lacks family by the media and scientific community not only resulted in consequences for the family, but influenced society, as well.

Henrietta Lacks was a “mother of five who died of cervical cancer at only thirty-one years of age” (Gabbay). When she passed away the doctors at John Hopkins asked her husband,

The non-fiction book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, written by Rebecca Skloot, details the happenings and life of Henrietta Lacks, an African American woman and tobacco farmer who became a medical miracle in the 1950’s. The book is written in an attempt to chronicle both the experiences and tribulations of Henrietta Lacks and her family, as well as the events that led to, and resulted from, research done on Henrietta Lacks’ cells. Henrietta was a very average African American woman in this period; she had only a seventh-grade level education, and followed traditional racial and gender roles by spending her time has a mother and caretaker, as well as working on farms throughout her life until the involvement of the US in World War II brought her and her husband, “Day” Lacks, comparatively better work opportunities in industrial steel mills. However, after her death in 1951 Henrietta became much more than average to doctors at John Hopkins when the discovered that cells extracted from her cancerous tissue continued to live and grow much longer than any other tissue samples. Further investigation and isolation of these thriving cells led to the creation of the first ever immortal human cell line in medical history. The incredible progress in medicine made possible by Henrietta Lack’s tissue cells were not without downfalls, though. The treatments and experiences received by Henrietta and the effects it had on her and her family demonstrate both racial and gender

Although she was taken from the world too soon, Henrietta Lacks was a warm hearted woman, and though unbeknownst to her, she would pave the way for the medical field and greatly expand our understanding of one of the nation’s