The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks Essay

In the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, the author demonstrates the harsh realities that many African Americans faced in the medical and scientific field during the mid 20th century. The author shows the unjust practices of this time period through interviews with the Lacks family and medical professionals. These harsh realities are proven when Skloot talks to Henrietta’s family. Henrietta’s husband, Day, explains how they took samples from Henrietta’s body without consent when Skloot writes, “Day clenched his remaining three teeth. "I didn't sign no papers," he said.

The Fluidity of Henrietta Lacks. Gender Norms & Racial Bias in the study of the Modern “Henrietta Lacks” Henrietta Lacks was an African American woman whose cancer cells were the source of the HeLa cell line, the first immortalized cell line and one of the most important cell lines in medical research. An immortalized cell line will reproduce indefinitely under specific conditions, and the HeLa cell line continues to be a source of invaluable medical data to present day. Lacks was the unwitting source of these cells from a tumor biopsied during treatment for cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. in 1951. The cells were then cultured by George Otto Gey who created the cell line known as HeLa, which is still

In Disney princess movies we often find that in order for the viewer to effectively sympathize with and care about the main character, bad things must happen to good people, and these bad things are made as awful as they possibly can be for the viewer to really and truly care for the character. In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, a biography by Rebecca Skloot, Skloot uses a pathos appeal in order to almost force the reader to sympathize with the characters, namely Deborah. Though Skloot masterfully pulls at the reader’s heartstrings throughout the book, she does so especially when Deborah passes away. The reader find that on the day of Deborah’s death, Sonny had come to check on Deborah, as he always does, to find her with her arms folded

Having the opportunity to discuss the impact of medical research performed on Henrietta Lacks’ cells with doctor George Guy would be an experience like no other. Through the use of Henrietta Lacks’s cells, George Guy created an industry that would fuel research throughout the scientific community. When Henrietta Lacks was admitted to the hospital for radiation treatments, doctors took samples of her cervical cancer cells. Henrietta was not informed that one of the two samples was sent to George Guy, a scientist researching the immortalization of human cells. Guy soon realized that these cells were able to grow outside of the human body, they even grew rapidly.

First of all, Henrietta was an African American woman at the time when there was still inequality and segregation towards African Americans. This was really evident when she went in for her checkups at Hopkins and how she was never asked for her consent with her cell tissue. Also, the medical treatments at that time were not very safe or effective. An example would be when they used radium to try and treat her cervical cancer. Little did they know that radium destroys any cells it touches and it can also cause cancer.

The book summarizes her life and family, her cells, and their significance to science. Skloot successfully argues that Lacks’s cells became a scientific marvel, being used world wide, which her family had absolutely no knowledge of. The background of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks all comes back to an eager

In the memoir, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, the author Rebecca Skloot reveals the life story of Henrietta Lacks and her cells’ revolutionary impact on the medical industry, while also raising concern about the greater underlying social issues consistent in Western medicine. The memoir follows the life of Henrietta Lacks, a black woman living with cancer in 1950s America, and the theft and utilization of her cells after her death. Skloot also writes about the ripple effects HeLa cells have on her family and the injustice they continue to face today. The memoir, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks sheds light upon the importance of bioethics and informed consent while calling attention to the anti-feminist and racist past of post-colonial

There are many citizens out in the world and each one has a purpose in life whether they approve or disapprove, but it is worse having it stolen from you and not being compensated or receiving recognition for the contribution made for a better future. Henrietta Lacks was an African American woman with cervical cancer and while undergoing radioactive therapy, she has her cells stolen from her. She died not knowing the truth and numerous years later, her family is shocked to find out the truth. The knowledge acquired by reading this enthralling novel is how the medical procedures were conducted during the time period of when Henrietta Lacks was undergoing medical attention for her tumor. The doctor stole Henrietta’s cells without her

A doctor should not bear with the tendencies to surrender on a patient. An author named Sandra Brown wrote a novel called Mean Streak, the protagonist, a pediatrician, would not surrender on her goal to save a child. Emory Charbonneau insisted she would help despite an obstacle, “We’re going back to help her” (Brown 115). Moreover, hope has a major effect on a person and their decisions. It is key for an author to be able to spread a message for displaying hope is powerful.

Taneisha Grant’s narrative “When the Simulated Patient is for Real” discusses the real-life application of the information one learns in school by describing a situation between Doctor Grant and her patient, a worrisome man named Mr. G. Grant highlights the need to understand the patients themselves prior to treatment through her encounter with this patient. This encounter ultimately reminded her that her education will always continue to effect and to increase throughout her work. Grant takes a very patient-oriented view, making clear her medical aim to be helping her patients as best as possible. She mentions a need for objectivity, because it does not matter what “race, gender, or socioeconomic” status the patient has (Grant 182).

Rebecca Skloot develops the idea that poverty comes with many difficult situations, in the book, "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks". True, Henrietta and her family were poor, could barely afford their medical bills, and they didn 't get the extended care that they deserved. You will learn how being poor can change your life and what is done with it . In the book, Henrietta 's daughter, Deborah, has many medical problems and she has to spend all her money on not even all her medicine.

Language Arts Question 4 In the beginning of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, the author, Rebecca Skloot, stated her goal and reason of writing the book. Learning biology in college, her professor mentioned Henrietta and her cells very briefly. Fortunately, this was enough to catch Skloot’s curiosity. She desired to learn more about the woman responsible for so many scientific breakthroughs.

Jamison doubts empathy can alleviate the pain instead of strength it. She doubts that let people talk about their disease in a specific place, where they can only focus on the disease, can help them cure the disease. This communication merely strengthens their belief of suffering, and it cannot provide the comfort it is supposed to provide. As a result, the pain becomes worse and needs even more comforts. What make things worse is that this communication makes people believe that they can only be understand here.

An essential part of modern society relied on trust, especially the trust of doctors and scientists. People had the right to make an informed decision about their bodies and body parts. People had a right to their body parts, both attached and cell samples collected by doctors. The actions that the medical professions made will continue to affect future generations in both positive and negative ways. In the contemporary biographical novel, the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot used logical opinions to argue about the importance of consent to reveal the lack of morality from those in the medical field which continues to persist today.

There are few things in this world that are tough to teach, and even tougher to learn, among those is courage along with the ways and demeanor of the courageous. It wasn’t until recently that I realized the significance of period of my life where my grandfather was ill, the unintentional gift of wisdom he granted me. The parallel between my grandfather, and a lesson that Atticus Finch given in To Kill a Mockingbird, evoked these memories. My great grandfather had a bout with cancer as I began to reach maturity, and soon I would follow in my own fight with diabetes. It was his courage when facing his death that gave me the strength to persevere in my own struggle.