The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
10 Honors Part Iby Rebecca Skloot
Essential Question: How can literature serve as a vehicle for ethics and morality?
Essential Question: How can literature serve as a vehicle for the personal development of ethical decision-making and morality?
About The Book:
In 1950, Henrietta Lacks, a young mother of five children, entered the colored ward of TheJohns Hopkins Hospital to begin treatment for an extremely aggressive strain of cervical
cancer. As she lay on the operating table, a sample of her cancerous cervical tissue was taken
without her knowledge or consent and given to Dr. George Gey, the head of tissue research.
Gey was conducting experiments in an attempt to create an immortal line of human cells
that could be used in medical research. Those cells, he hoped, would allow scientists to
unlock the mysteries of cancer, and eventually lead to a cure for the disease. Until this point,
all of Gey’s attempts to grow a human cell line had ended in failure, but Henrietta’s cells
were different: they never died.
Less than a year after her initial diagnosis, Henrietta succumbed to the ravages of cancer andwas buried in an unmarked grave on her family’s land. She was just thirty-one years old. Herfamily had no idea that part of her was still alive, growing vigorously in laboratories—first atJohns Hopkins, and eventually all over the world.
Thirty-seven years after Henrietta’s death, sixteen-year-old Rebecca Skloot was a high schoolstudent sitting in a biology class when her instructor mentioned that HeLa, the firstimmortal human cell line ever grown in culture, had been taken from an African Americanwoman named Henrietta Lacks. His casual remark sparked Skloot’s interest, and led to aresearch project that would take over a decade to complete. Her investigation of the truestory behind HeLa eventually led her to form significant––and in some cases, lifechanging––relationships with the surviving members of the Lacks family, especiallyHenrietta’s daughter, Deborah.
In telling Henrietta’s story, Skloot draws from primary sources and personal interviews to
provide insightful narrative accounts of Henrietta’s childhood, young adulthood, diagnosis,
illness, and tragic death. She also explores the birth and life of the immortal cell line HeLa,
and shows how research involving HeLa has changed the landscape of medical research,
leading to not only scientific and medical breakthroughs, but also new and evolving policies
concerning the rights of patients and research subjects.
As the story of HeLa unfolds, so does the story of Henrietta’s surviving children, who fortwo decades were unaware of the existence of their mother’s cells—and the multi-milliondollarindustry that developed around the production and use of HeLa. Central to thisnarrative is the relationship between Skloot and Deborah. As Skloot tenaciously worked togain Deborah’s trust, Deborah struggled to understand what had happened to her motherand her mother’s cells. The result of their relationship is an illuminating portrait of theenduring legacy of Henrietta’s life, death, and immortality.
Vocabulary
Cloning: (pg 2) The process of producing a clone ( a cell, cell product, or organism that is genetically identical to the unit or individual from which it was derived.
Gene Mapping: (pg 2) Any of a number of methods used to construct a model of the linear sequence of genes of a particular chromosome.
In Vitro Fertilization: (pg 2) A specialized technique by which an ovum, especially a human one, is fertilized by sperm outside the body, with the resulting embryo later implanted in the uterus for gestation.
Genome: (pg 3) A full set of chromosomes; all the inheritable traits of an organism.
Influenza: (pg4) An acute, commonly epidemic disease, occurring in several form, caused by numerous rapidly mutating viral strains and characterized by respiratory symptoms and general prostration.
Hemophilia: (pg4) Any of several X-linked disorders, symptomatic chiefly in males, in which excessive bleeding occurs owing to the absence or abnormality of a clotting factor in the blood.
Parkinson’s Disease: (pg4) A common neurologic disease believed to be caused by deterioration of the brain cells.
Epidermoid Carcinoma: (pg27) Cancer that begins in squamous cells.
Pipette: (pg 28) A slender graduated tube used in a laboratory for measuring and transferring liquids from one container to another.
Polio: (pg 93) Shortened from of poliomyelitis; a serious disease that affects the nerves of the spine and often makes a person permanently unable to move particular muscles.
Immune Systems: (pg 128) A diffuse, complex network of interacting cells, cell products, and cell-forming tissues that protects the body from pathogens and other foreign substances, destroys infected and malignant cells, and removes cellular debris.
Inalienable Rights: (pg134) That which is due to anyone by just claim, legal guarantees, moral principles, etc., and cannot be transferred to another without consent.
Abatement: (pg 168) Suppression or termination.
Biotechnology: (pg 194) The use of living organisms or other biological systems in the manufacture of drugs or other products or for environmental management, as in waste recycling.
Patent: (pg 201) The exclusive right granted by a government to an inventor to manufacture, use, or sell an invention for a number of years.