Unveiling Henrietta Lacks: The Woman Behind HeLa Cells

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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks The first time, the author, Rebecca Skloot heard of Henrietta Lacks was during a biology class at a community college. "Everybody learns about these cells in basic biology, but what was unique about my situation was that my teacher actually knew Henrietta’s real name and that she was black" (Zielinski). This first initial encounter would begin the search for the unknown story behind the real woman, whose name no one had really heard of. Henrietta had cancerous cells taken from her that would be known as HeLa cells in science literature; the first human cells to reliably and proliferately be produced in a laboratory. These cells became one of the crucial research materials for health and genetic science studies (such as developing the polio vaccine, cloning. and gene mapping), the foundation of medical research and scientific discoveries worldwide. They were also the impotence to a great deal of controversy due to them being taken without the knowledge or consent of the donor or her family; "enduring nearly 60 years of anguish directly related to the success of the Hela cell line" as stated in a review by Norman Fost (87). He brought light to …show more content…

"A Cell 's Life: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks." Issues in Science and Technology 26.4 (2010): 87. Academic OneFile. Web. 11 Nov. 2016. "Henrietta 's Immortal Cells [book Review]." Africa News Service 5 July 2012: n. pag. General OneFile. Web. 10 Nov. 2016. Sanders, Laura. "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks." Science News 27 Mar. 2010: 30. Academic OneFile. Web. 10 Nov. 2016. Skloot, Rebecca. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. New York: Crown Publishers, 2010. Print. Steiner, John E. (2013). Problems in health care law: challenges for the 21st century (10th ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Zielinski, Sarah. "Henrietta Lacks ' 'Immortal ' Cells." Smithsonian Magazine. Smithsonian, n.d. Web. 11 Nov.

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