Henrietta Lack

Henrietta Lacks, a young black woman suffering from cervical cancer, has and continues to contribute greatly to the advancement of science unbeknownst to her and her family. This young woman has played a crucial role in developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping and in vitro fertilization (Zielinski, 2010). “Protecting human dignity and preventing exploitation are core concepts in both bioethics and human rights” (Marouf & Esplin, 2015). These core concepts were not upheld in 1951 when a Johns Hopkins scientist took a tissue sample from a young woman dying from cervical cancer (Zielinski, 2010). This scientist violated two major concepts in this particular case: informed consent and privacy and autonomy.

Prior to 1966, “clinical

At the time of the initial research in 1951, researchers named the cells HeLa Cells in order to protect the identity of Ms. Lacks. However, according to Zielinski (2010), in 1970, Ms. Lacks’ name was leaked into the public. Today, one of the “most promising aspects of health information technology in both the clinical and research settings is the ability to provide greater privacy protection” (Rothstein, 2015, p. 426). The two core concepts previously mentioned, protecting human dignity and preventing exploitation, were actually developed in response to other acts of exploitation such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study (Marouf & Esplin, 2015). In this case, I do not believe Ms. Lacks’ name was originally exploited, but as time passed and technology improved, her name was ultimately learned. Even technology today is not fail-proof and names have been leaked into the public despite all efforts to protect them, so I would not deem this an intentional

My daughter is a cancer survivor to a very rare form of cancer. Consequently, researchers wanted the tumor after her surgery and wanted to continue to keep an eye on my daughter for years to come. This study is an extensive one and I am proud that my daughter, at the age of 8, was completely informed, as was I, of the intent of the research. None of her rights were violated in the process of this research. As a mother and a nurse, I do not want any other child to experience what my child went through, so this was an easy decision for me to make. However, I am glad I know where the tissue has gone. I would have a difficult time if I learned years later that they used the tissue for cloning, gene mapping, etc. I feel I, as the mother, have a right to know exactly the intent of the tissue. However, I would have a hard time accepting monetary reward knowing it is going towards advancement and