Borrow The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks

Borrowing the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: Ethical Considerations and Scientific Legacy

Introduction:

The name Henrietta Lacks may not be familiar to everyone, but her cells – HeLa cells – are arguably the most important in medical history. This post delves into the complex ethical and scientific landscape surrounding HeLa cells, exploring the groundbreaking contributions they've made to medicine while simultaneously examining the profound ethical dilemmas raised by their unauthorized use. We’ll unpack the story of Henrietta Lacks, the controversy surrounding her cells, and the ongoing debate about informed consent and the commercialization of human biological material. We’ll also explore the legal and ethical frameworks that have evolved in response to the HeLa controversy, shaping how researchers handle human tissue today. Prepare to be both fascinated and challenged by this exploration of a crucial intersection of science, ethics, and justice.

1. Henrietta Lacks: A Life Intertwined with Immortality

Henrietta Lacks, a Black tobacco farmer, died tragically young in 1951 from cervical cancer. Unbeknownst to her, cells taken from her tumor during treatment proved remarkably resilient and capable of continuous replication – unlike any other human cells previously observed. These cells, dubbed HeLa cells, became a cornerstone of modern biomedical research. Their unprecedented ability to proliferate allowed scientists to make breakthroughs in virology, oncology, genetics, and countless other fields. This section will delve into Henrietta Lacks's life, highlighting her background and the circumstances surrounding the unwitting contribution of her cells to medical science. We will explore her family's background and their initial unawareness of the extensive use of HeLa cells.

2. The Scientific Revolution Fueled by HeLa Cells

HeLa cells revolutionized biological research. Their unique properties enabled researchers to develop polio vaccines, understand the effects of radiation, and conduct countless experiments impossible with other cell lines. This section explores specific scientific advancements made possible by HeLa cells, detailing their contributions to the development of major medical breakthroughs, including:

Polio Vaccine Development: Discuss the crucial role of HeLa cells in testing and developing the polio vaccine.
Cancer Research: Explore how HeLa cells have advanced our understanding of cancer biology and the development of cancer treatments.
Genetic Research: Highlight the use of HeLa cells in groundbreaking genetic research and mapping the human genome.
In Vitro Fertilization (IVF): Detail the contribution of HeLa cells in the advancement of IVF technology.

3. The Ethical Minefield: Informed Consent and the Commercialization of HeLa Cells

The use of Henrietta Lacks's cells without her knowledge or consent ignited a firestorm of ethical debate. This section examines the legal and ethical implications of using human biological material without explicit permission. We will discuss:

The Lack of Informed Consent: Analyze the historical context of medical research practices in the 1950s and the absence of informed consent procedures.
Commercialization of HeLa Cells: Explore the commercial aspects of HeLa cells, examining the profits generated from their use and the lack of compensation for the Lacks family.
The Evolution of Ethical Guidelines: Discuss the changes in research ethics and regulations that emerged in response to the HeLa controversy, focusing on the importance of informed consent and benefit-sharing.

4. The Lacks Family's Struggle for Recognition and Justice

For decades, the Lacks family remained unaware of the extensive use of Henrietta's cells and the immense scientific and commercial success they generated. This section details their struggle for recognition, acknowledgment, and equitable treatment, including:

The Family's Discovery: Describe the Lacks family's eventual discovery of HeLa cells and their initial reactions.
The Fight for Recognition and Compensation: Explore the family's ongoing efforts to gain recognition for Henrietta's contribution and seek compensation for the commercial use of her cells.
The Legacy of Henrietta Lacks: Discuss the impact of the HeLa controversy on public awareness of ethical issues in biomedical research.

5. The Ongoing Debate: Balancing Scientific Advancement and Ethical Responsibility

The HeLa controversy highlights the ongoing tension between the pursuit of scientific progress and the ethical responsibilities of researchers. This section examines the current state of ethical guidelines in biomedical research and the ongoing debate surrounding the use of human biological material. We will also discuss the future of bioethics and the crucial role of informed consent in protecting patient rights.

Article Outline:

Title: Borrowing the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: A Story of Scientific Breakthrough and Ethical Quandary

Introduction: Hook – Henrietta Lacks's unwitting contribution to medicine; overview of the article's content.
Chapter 1: The Life and Death of Henrietta Lacks: Background, family, diagnosis, and the extraction of her cells.
Chapter 2: The HeLa Cell Revolution: Scientific breakthroughs enabled by HeLa cells; specific examples in various fields.
Chapter 3: The Ethical Storm: Lack of informed consent; commercialization; ethical implications.
Chapter 4: The Lacks Family's Journey: Discovery, struggle for recognition, and ongoing legal battles.
Chapter 5: Lessons Learned and Future Directions: Ethical guidelines, informed consent, and the future of biomedical research.
Conclusion: Summary of key points; reflection on the enduring legacy of Henrietta Lacks.

(Detailed explanation of each chapter point would follow here, expanding on the information provided in the earlier sections of the blog post. Each chapter would be approximately 250-300 words, totaling over 1500 words for the entire blog post.)

FAQs:

1. What exactly are HeLa cells? HeLa cells are immortal human cells derived from Henrietta Lacks' cervical cancer tumor.
2. Why are HeLa cells so important in medical research? Their ability to continuously replicate made them invaluable for various experiments impossible with other cell lines.
3. Was Henrietta Lacks' informed consent obtained for the use of her cells? No, her cells were taken without her knowledge or consent.
4. Has the Lacks family received compensation for the use of HeLa cells? The issue of compensation is complex and remains a subject of ongoing discussion.
5. What ethical guidelines were violated in the HeLa case? Primarily, the lack of informed consent and the commercialization of her cells without her or her family's knowledge.
6. What changes have been made in biomedical research ethics since the HeLa controversy? There is increased emphasis on informed consent, benefit-sharing, and responsible use of human biological material.
7. Are there similar ethical dilemmas today regarding the use of human biological material? Yes, debates continue regarding genetic information, data privacy, and the commercialization of biomaterials.
8. What is the legacy of Henrietta Lacks? She is remembered as a pivotal figure in medical history, raising vital questions about ethics, consent, and justice in scientific research.
9. Where can I learn more about Henrietta Lacks and her story? Rebecca Skloot's book, "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks," is an excellent resource.

Related Articles:

1. The Ethics of Biobanking: Exploring the ethical considerations surrounding the storage and use of human biological samples.
2. Informed Consent in Medical Research: A deep dive into the principles and practices of informed consent.
3. Commercialization of Human Genetic Information: Examining the ethical and legal implications of profiting from genetic data.
4. The History of Medical Ethics: Tracing the evolution of ethical guidelines in medical research and practice.
5. Patient Rights and Data Privacy: Discussing patient rights concerning their medical information and data privacy.
6. The Role of Institutional Review Boards (IRBs): Understanding the function and importance of IRBs in protecting research participants.
7. Benefit-Sharing in Biomedical Research: Exploring equitable benefit-sharing models in research involving human biological materials.
8. The Impact of HeLa Cells on Cancer Research: A focused look at HeLa cells’ contributions to cancer research.
9. Henrietta Lacks' Family's Ongoing Advocacy: An exploration of the ongoing efforts of the Lacks family to advocate for their rights and ethical treatment in the context of HeLa cells.

borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Rebecca Skloot, 2010-02-02 #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “The story of modern medicine and bioethics—and, indeed, race relations—is refracted beautifully, and movingly.”—Entertainment Weekly NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE FROM HBO® STARRING OPRAH WINFREY AND ROSE BYRNE • ONE OF THE “MOST INFLUENTIAL” (CNN), “DEFINING” (LITHUB), AND “BEST” (THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER) BOOKS OF THE DECADE • ONE OF ESSENCE’S 50 MOST IMPACTFUL BLACK BOOKS OF THE PAST 50 YEARS • WINNER OF THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE HEARTLAND PRIZE FOR NONFICTION NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • Entertainment Weekly • O: The Oprah Magazine • NPR • Financial Times • New York • Independent (U.K.) • Times (U.K.) • Publishers Weekly • Library Journal • Kirkus Reviews • Booklist • Globe and Mail Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells—taken without her knowledge—became one of the most important tools in medicine: The first “immortal” human cells grown in culture, which are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb’s effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions. Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave. Henrietta’s family did not learn of her “immortality” until more than twenty years after her death, when scientists investigating HeLa began using her husband and children in research without informed consent. And though the cells had launched a multimillion-dollar industry that sells human biological materials, her family never saw any of the profits. As Rebecca Skloot so brilliantly shows, the story of the Lacks family—past and present—is inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we are made of. Over the decade it took to uncover this story, Rebecca became enmeshed in the lives of the Lacks family—especially Henrietta’s daughter Deborah. Deborah was consumed with questions: Had scientists cloned her mother? Had they killed her to harvest her cells? And if her mother was so important to medicine, why couldn’t her children afford health insurance? Intimate in feeling, astonishing in scope, and impossible to put down, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks captures the beauty and drama of scientific discovery, as well as its human consequences.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: Henrietta Lacks the Untold Story Ron Lacks, 2020-09 New Author Ron Lacks, tells a behind the scenes story of what happened in the past 9 years to his family in his new book Henrietta Lacks The Untold Story Ron Lacks is the oldest grandson of Henrietta Lacks. He takes you on the inside of a story that has haunted him for the past 9 years! This book will definitely answer your questions as to how the family is really doing now. From Clover to Baltimore... giving you an inside look at what happen behind closed doors, that ultimately divided a once strong family.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: The Skeleton Cupboard: The Making of a Clinical Psychologist Tanya Byron, 2015-04-07 Recounts the patient stories that most influenced Professor Tanya Byron, covering years of training that forced her to confront the harsh realities of the lives of her patients and the demons of her own family's history. Among others, we meet Ray, a violent sociopath desperate to be treated with tenderness and compassion; Mollie, a talented teenager intent on starving herself; and Imogen, a twelve-year-old so haunted by a secret that she's intent on killing herself. Byron brings the reader along as she uncovers the reasons each of these individuals behave the way they do, resulting in a ... psychological mystery that sheds light on mental illness and what its treatment tells us about ourselves--
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: No Time to Spare Ursula K. Le Guin, 2017 From acclaimed author Ursula K. Le Guin, a collection of thoughts--always adroit, often acerbic--on aging, belief, the state of literature, and the state of the nation
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: Writing Beyond Race bell hooks, 2013 What are the conditions needed for our nation to bridge cultural and racial divides? By writing beyond race, noted cultural critic bell hooks models the constructive ways scholars, activists, and readers can challenge and change systems of domination. In the spirit of previous classics like Outlaw Culture and Reel to Real, this new collection of compelling essays interrogates contemporary cultural notions of race, gender, and class. From the films Precious and Crash to recent biographies of Malcolm X and Henrietta Lacks, hooks offers provocative insights into the way race is being talked about in this post-racial era.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: Bad Blood James H. Jones, 1993 The modern classic of race and medicine updated with an additional chapter on the Tuskegee experiment's legacy in the age of AIDS.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: Silent Travelers Alan M. Kraut, 1995-03 Traces the American tradition of suspicion of the unassimilated, from the cholera outbreak of the 1830s through the great waves of immigration that began in the 1890s, to the recent past, when the erroneous association of Haitians with the AIDS virus brought widespread panic and discrimination. Kraut (history, American U.) found that new immigrant populations--made up of impoverished laborers living in urban America's least sanitary conditions--have been victims of illness rather than its progenitors, yet the medical establishment has often blamed epidemics on immigrants' traditions, ethnic habits, or genetic heritage. Originally published in hardcover by Basic Books in 1994. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: Chasing My Cure David Fajgenbaum, 2019-09-10 LOS ANGELES TIMES AND PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BESTSELLER • The powerful memoir of a young doctor and former college athlete diagnosed with a rare disease who spearheaded the search for a cure—and became a champion for a new approach to medical research. “A wonderful and moving chronicle of a doctor’s relentless pursuit, this book serves both patients and physicians in demystifying the science that lies behind medicine.”—Siddhartha Mukherjee, New York Times bestselling author of The Emperor of All Maladies and The Gene David Fajgenbaum, a former Georgetown quarterback, was nicknamed the Beast in medical school, where he was also known for his unmatched mental stamina. But things changed dramatically when he began suffering from inexplicable fatigue. In a matter of weeks, his organs were failing and he was read his last rites. Doctors were baffled by his condition, which they had yet to even diagnose. Floating in and out of consciousness, Fajgenbaum prayed for a second chance, the equivalent of a dramatic play to second the game into overtime. Miraculously, Fajgenbaum survived—only to endure repeated near-death relapses from what would eventually be identified as a form of Castleman disease, an extremely deadly and rare condition that acts like a cross between cancer and an autoimmune disorder. When he relapsed while on the only drug in development and realized that the medical community was unlikely to make progress in time to save his life, Fajgenbaum turned his desperate hope for a cure into concrete action: Between hospitalizations he studied his own charts and tested his own blood samples, looking for clues that could unlock a new treatment. With the help of family, friends, and mentors, he also reached out to other Castleman disease patients and physicians, and eventually came up with an ambitious plan to crowdsource the most promising research questions and recruit world-class researchers to tackle them. Instead of waiting for the scientific stars to align, he would attempt to align them himself. More than five years later and now married to his college sweetheart, Fajgenbaum has seen his hard work pay off: A treatment he identified has induced a tentative remission and his novel approach to collaborative scientific inquiry has become a blueprint for advancing rare disease research. His incredible story demonstrates the potency of hope, and what can happen when the forces of determination, love, family, faith, and serendipity collide. Praise for Chasing My Cure “A page-turning chronicle of living, nearly dying, and discovering what it really means to be invincible in hope.”—Angela Duckworth, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Grit “[A] remarkable memoir . . . Fajgenbaum writes lucidly and movingly . . . Fajgenbaum’s stirring account of his illness will inspire readers.”—Publishers Weekly
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: The Violets of March Sarah Jio, 2020-03-19 The island has a way of calling you home... Ten years ago, Emily Watson was on top of the world: a best-selling novel, a husband plucked from the pages of a magazine, and a one-way ticket to happily ever after. Now her perfect life has crumbled and Emily is left to pick up the pieces. So when her great-Aunt Bee invites her to spend the month of March on her beloved Bainbridge Island, Emily accepts, longing to be healed by the sea. As she begins researching her next book, Emily discovers a red velvet diary, dated 1943, whose contents reveal a startling secret that could change her life forever... A heart-breaking story of love, hope and second chances, from the international bestselling author of All the Flowers in Paris
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: The Ghost Map Steven Johnson, 2006 It is the summer of 1854. Cholera has seized London with unprecedented intensity. A metropolis of more than 2 million people, London is just emerging as one of the first modern cities in the world. But lacking the infrastructure necessary to support its dense population - garbage removal, clean water, sewers - the city has become the perfect breeding ground for a terrifying disease that no one knows how to cure. As their neighbors begin dying, two men are spurred to action: the Reverend Henry Whitehead, whose faith in a benevolent God is shaken by the seemingly random nature of the victims, and Dr. John Snow, whose ideas about contagion have been dismissed by the scientific community, but who is convinced that he knows how the disease is being transmitted. The Ghost Map chronicles the outbreak's spread and the desperate efforts to put an end to the epidemic - and solve the most pressing medical riddle of the age.--BOOK JACKET.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: High Infatuation Steph Davis, 2007-03-09 * A collection of vivid, intimate essays and prose poetry on the universal themes of life, love, friendship, personal empowerment, and more, told through a career in climbing * 40 percent of these pieces debut here for the first time * Davis has been profiled in publications including Outside, Men's Journal, W Magazine, and Sports Illustrated. Throughout her life, Steph Davis has chosen to take risks, to trust her impulses, to make decisions based on what feels right inside -- and never look back. Studying to be a concert pianist, she quit music the day she was introduced to rock climbing. Later, she abandoned the respectability of university life and pursuit of a law degree to become a dirtbag climber, living out of her grandmother's hand-me-down Oldsmobile sedan with Fletcher, a heeler mix dog. Today, through courage and perseverance, Davis is a high-profile athlete whose sponsors have included Patagonia, Mammut, Clif Bar, Five Ten and Cascade Designs. In High Infatuation, Davis writes on the universal themes of life, love, friendship, personal empowerment, and more, told through a career in climbing. We wait with her in the tent through weeks of rain, wind, snow, and sleet, hoping for the weather to improve in the mountains of Patagonia, then race with her up a towering rock wall of Yosemite's El Capitan in a single day. More than adventure stories, these pieces reveal Davis' soul. They draw us into her struggles with safety, independence, ambition, and compassion. By following the journey of this remarkable woman, we learn what it means to live a truly adventurous life.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: Hidden Arguments Sylvia Noble Tesh, 1988 In this provocative book, Sylvia Tesh shows how politics masquerades as science in the debates over the causes and prevention of disease. Tesh argues that ideas about the causes of disease which dominate policy at any given time or place are rarely determined by scientific criteria alone. In a final chapter, Tesh urges scientists to incorporate egalitarian values into their search for the truth, rather than pretending science can be divorced from that political ideology.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: The Biology of Cancer Weinberg, Robert A., 2013-05-24 Incorporating the most important advances in the fast-growing field of cancer biology, the text maintains all of its hallmark features. It is admired by students, instructors, researchers, and clinicians around the world for its clear writing, extensive full-color art program, and numerous pedagogical features.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: 101 Careers in Public Health Beth Seltzer, MD, MPH, 2010-09-28 First rate advice.--APHA What sort of training do you need to work in public health? What kinds of jobs are out there right now? And what exactly is an epidemiologist, anyway? Answering these questions and more, this career guide provides an overview of the numerous options in public health and the many different roads to get there. Whether you're a student who wants to launch a career or a professional looking to change careers, this guide offers an easy introduction to the field. It details the training, salary ranges, and degree requirements for each job, and alerts readers to alternative pathways beyond the traditional MPH. 101 Careers in Public Health helps you follow your interests, find the right job, and make a difference. Key Features Includes a detailed guide to educational paths, options, and training requirements at the bachelor's, master's, and PhD levels Offers guidance on navigating the job market, with information on both traditional and nontraditional pathways-and tips on landing the job you want Provides descriptions of careers in disease prevention, environmental health, disaster preparedness, nutrition, education, public safety, and many more Includes interviews with public health professionals who offer details of their day-to-day lives on the job
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: Jean Baudrillard Brian Gogan, 2017-11 This work is the first book-length treatment of Jean Baudrillard as a rhetorical theorist--
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: The Elephant in the Room Jonathan Waxman, 2011-09-28 The Elephant in the Room is a collection of short stories that creatively communicate the cancer patient’s journey. The stories, based on real-life accounts, are built around the idiosyncratic relationships between patients and their doctors. Using humor, empathy and wisdom, Jonathan Waxman explores the very human side of cancer as well as providing expert commentary on the clinical aspects of diagnosis and therapy of this disease. These stories comfort and entertain, inform and engage, and are a treat to read for anyone whose life has been affected by cancer.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: The Political Determinants of Health Daniel E. Dawes, 2020-03-24 How do policy and politics influence the social conditions that generate health outcomes? Reduced life expectancy, worsening health outcomes, health inequity, and declining health care options—these are now realities for most Americans. However, in a country of more than 325 million people, addressing everyone's issues is challenging. How can we effect beneficial change for everyone so we all can thrive? What is the great equalizer? In this book, Daniel E. Dawes argues that political determinants of health create the social drivers—including poor environmental conditions, inadequate transportation, unsafe neighborhoods, and lack of healthy food options—that affect all other dynamics of health. By understanding these determinants, their origins, and their impact on the equitable distribution of opportunities and resources, we will be better equipped to develop and implement actionable solutions to close the health gap. Dawes draws on his firsthand experience helping to shape major federal policies, including the Affordable Care Act, to describe the history of efforts to address the political determinants that have resulted in health inequities. Taking us further upstream to the underlying source of the causes of inequities, Dawes examines the political decisions that lead to our social conditions, makes the social determinants of health more accessible, and provides a playbook for how we can address them effectively. A thought-provoking and evocative account that considers both the policies we think of as health policy and those that we don't, The Political Determinants of Health provides a novel, multidisciplinary framework for addressing the systemic barriers preventing the United States from becoming the healthiest nation in the world.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: Twelve Patients Eric Manheimer, 2012-07-10 In the spirit of Oliver Sacks and the inspiration for the NBC drama New Amsterdam, this intensely involving memoir from a Medical Director of Bellevue Hospital looks poignantly at patients' lives and highlights the complex mind-body connection. Using the plights of twelve very different patients--from dignitaries at the nearby UN, to supermax prisoners at Riker's Island, to illegal immigrants, and Wall Street tycoons--Dr. Eric Manheimer offers far more than remarkable medical dramas: he blends each patient's personal experiences with their social implications (Publishers Weekly). Manheimer is not only the medical director of the country's oldest public hospital, but he is also a patient. As the book unfolds, the narrator is diagnosed with cancer, and he is forced to wrestle with the end of his own life even as he struggles to save the lives of others.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: The Girls of Atomic City Denise Kiernan, 2014-03-11 This is the story of the young women of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, who unwittingly played a crucial role in one of the most significant moments in U.S. history. The Tennessee town of Oak Ridge was created from scratch in 1942. One of the Manhattan Project's secret cities. All knew something big was happening at Oak Ridge, but few could piece together the true nature of their work until the bomb Little Boy was dropped over Hiroshima, Japan, and the secret was out. The reverberations from their work there, work they did not fully understand at the time, are still being felt today.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: I Think You're Wrong (But I'm Listening) Sarah Stewart Holland, Beth Silvers, 2019-02-05 More than ever, politics seem to be driven by discord. People sitting together in pews every Sunday feel like strangers and loved ones at the dinner table feel like enemies. Toxic political dialogue, hate-filled rants on social media, and agenda-driven news stories have become the new norm. But it doesn't have to be this way. In I Think You're Wrong (But I'm Listening), two working moms from opposite ends of the political spectrum teach us that politics don't have to divide us. Instead, we can bring the same care and respect to policy discussions that we bring to the rest of our lives. Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth Silvers, co-hosts of Pantsuit Politics, recently named an Apple Podcasts Show of the Year, give you all of the tools you need to: Respect the dignity of every person Recognize that issues are nuanced and can't be reduced to political talking points Listen in order to understand Lead with grace and patience Join Sarah from the left and Beth from the right as they teach you that people from opposing political perspectives truly can have calm, grace-filled conversations with one another. Praise for I Think You're Wrong (But I'm Listening): Sarah and Beth are an absolute gift to our culture right now. Not only do they offer balanced perspectives from each political ideology, but they teach us how to dialogue well, without sacrificing our humanity. --Jen Hatmaker, New York Times bestselling author and speaker Sarah from the left and Beth from the right serve as our guides through conflict and complexity, delivering us into connection. I wish every person living in the United States would read this compelling book, from the youngest voter to those holding the highest office. --Emily P. Freeman, Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Next Right Thing
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: Mandy Hoffen and a Conspiracy to Resurrect Life and Social Justice in Science Curriculum with Henrietta Lacks Dana Compton McCullough, 2021-06-01 This book is a theoretical inquiry into alternative pedagogies that challenge current standardized practices in the field of science education. Through Mandy Hoffen, a fictional persona, Dana McCullough, the author, explores how stories of Henrietta Lacks become part of a conspiracy to change science education. Mandy Hoffen, however, never expected to find herself in the middle of a conspiracy. As a science teacher of 20 plus years, she worked diligently to meet the needs of her charges, who are currently ninth and tenth grade biology students in an age of standardized testing. The author also creates imaginary dialogues which serve as the theoretical framework for each chapter. Each chapter unfolds in a form of a play with imaginary settings and events that bring Henrietta Lacks back from the grave to participate in conversations about science, society, and social justice. The imaginary conversations are based on the author’s experiences in graduate courses, direct quotations from philosophers of science, historians of science, science educators, curriculum theorists, and stories of students in their study of Henrietta Lacks in a high school biology classroom. The play describes the journey of a graduate student/high school teacher as she researches the importance of the philosophy of science, history of science, science curriculum and social justice in science education. Through reflections on fictional conversations, stories of Henrietta Lacks are examined and described in multiple settings, beginning in an imaginary academic meeting, and ending with student conversations in a classroom. Each setting provides a space for conversations wherein participants explore their personal connections with science, science curriculum, issues of social justice related to science, and Henrietta Lacks. This book will be of interest to graduate students, scholars, and undergraduates in curriculum studies, educational foundations, and teacher education, and those interested in alternative research methodologies. This is the first book to intentionally address the stories of Henrietta Lacks and their importance in the field of curriculum studies, science studies, and current standardized high school science curriculum.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: Introduction to Public Health Mary-Jane Schneider, 2011 New to the Third Edition: New or expanded sections covering: Pandemic Flu Response to Hurricane Katrina FDA Regulation of Tobacco Promoting Physical Activity Poisoning (now the #2 cause of injury death) Nonfatal Traumatic Brain Injuries National Children's Study Coal Ash and other unregulated waste from power plants Medical errors Information Technology New information/discussion on: H1N1 swine flu Conflicts of interest in drug trials Problems in planning for the 2010 census Genomic medicine Cell phones/texting while driving National birth defects prevention study The new HPV vaccine controversy Lead paint in toys imported from china Bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates The recent Salmonella outbreak in Peanut Butter Contaminated drug imports from China Managed care efforts to control medical costs Evaluation of Healthy People 2010 and planning for Healthy People 2020 New examples including: Andrew Speaker/Extremely Drug Resistant (XDR) Tuberculosis Football players and increased risk for dementia later in life.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down Anne Fadiman, 1998-09-30 Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down explores the clash between a small county hospital in California and a refugee family from Laos over the care of Lia Lee, a Hmong child diagnosed with severe epilepsy. Lia's parents and her doctors both wanted what was best for Lia, but the lack of understanding between them led to tragedy. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest, and the Salon Book Award, Anne Fadiman's compassionate account of this cultural impasse is literary journalism at its finest. ______ Lia Lee 1982-2012 Lia Lee died on August 31, 2012. She was thirty years old and had been in a vegetative state since the age of four. Until the day of her death, her family cared for her lovingly at home.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: Survival of the Sickest LP Dr. Sharon Moalem, Jonathan Prince, 2007-05-22 Was diabetes evolution's response to the last Ice Age? Did a deadly genetic disease help our ancestors survive the bubonic plagues of Europe? Will a visit to the tanning salon help lower your cholesterol? Why do we age? Why are some people immune to HIV? Can your genes be turned on—or off? Survival of the Sickest is fi lled with fascinating insights and cutting-edge research, presented in a way that is both accessible and utterly absorbing. This is a book about the interconnectedness of all life on earth—and especially what that means for us. Read it. You're already living it.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: Lifelines Dr. Leana Wen, 2021-07-27 From medical expert Leana Wen, MD, Lifelines is an insider's account of public health and its crucial role—from opioid addiction to global pandemic—and an inspiring story of her journey from struggling immigrant to being one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People. “Public health saved your life today—you just don’t know it,” is a phrase that Dr. Leana Wen likes to use. You don’t know it because good public health is invisible. It becomes visible only in its absence, when it is underfunded and ignored, a bitter truth laid bare as never before by the devastation of COVID-19. Leana Wen—emergency physician, former Baltimore health commissioner, CNN medical analyst, and Washington Post contributing columnist—has lived on the front lines of public health, leading the fight against the opioid epidemic, outbreaks of infectious disease, maternal and infant mortality, and COVID-19 disinformation. Here, in gripping detail, Wen lays bare the lifesaving work of public health and its innovative approach to social ills, treating gun violence as a contagious disease, for example, and racism as a threat to health. Wen also tells her own uniquely American story: an immigrant from China, she and her family received food stamps and were at times homeless despite her parents working multiple jobs. That child went on to attend college at thirteen, become a Rhodes scholar, and turn to public health as the way to make a difference in the country that had offered her such possibilities. Ultimately, she insists, it is public health that ensures citizens are not robbed of decades of life, and that where children live does not determine whether they live.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: The Emperor of All Maladies Siddhartha Mukherjee, 2011-08-09 Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a documentary from Ken Burns on PBS, this New York Times bestseller is “an extraordinary achievement” (The New Yorker)—a magnificent, profoundly humane “biography” of cancer—from its first documented appearances thousands of years ago through the epic battles in the twentieth century to cure, control, and conquer it to a radical new understanding of its essence. Physician, researcher, and award-winning science writer, Siddhartha Mukherjee examines cancer with a cellular biologist’s precision, a historian’s perspective, and a biographer’s passion. The result is an astonishingly lucid and eloquent chronicle of a disease humans have lived with—and perished from—for more than five thousand years. The story of cancer is a story of human ingenuity, resilience, and perseverance, but also of hubris, paternalism, and misperception. Mukherjee recounts centuries of discoveries, setbacks, victories, and deaths, told through the eyes of his predecessors and peers, training their wits against an infinitely resourceful adversary that, just three decades ago, was thought to be easily vanquished in an all-out “war against cancer.” The book reads like a literary thriller with cancer as the protagonist. Riveting, urgent, and surprising, The Emperor of All Maladies provides a fascinating glimpse into the future of cancer treatments. It is an illuminating book that provides hope and clarity to those seeking to demystify cancer.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: From Cuenca to Queens Ann Miles, 2010-01-01 Transnational migration is a controversial and much-discussed issue in both the popular media and the social sciences, but at its heart migration is about individual people making the difficult choice to leave their families and communities in hopes of achieving greater economic prosperity. Vicente Quitasaca is one of these people. In 1995 he left his home in the Ecuadorian city of Cuenca to live and work in New York City. This anthropological story of Vicente's migration and its effects on his life and the lives of his parents and siblings adds a crucial human dimension to statistics about immigration and the macro impact of transnational migration on the global economy. Anthropologist Ann Miles has known the Quitasacas since 1989. Her long acquaintance with the family allows her to delve deeply into the factors that eventually impelled the oldest son to make the difficult and dangerous journey to the United States as an undocumented migrant. Focusing on each family member in turn, Miles explores their varying perceptions of social inequality and racism in Ecuador and their reactions to Vicente's migration. As family members speak about Vicente's new, hard-to-imagine life in America, they reveal how transnational migration becomes a symbol of failure, hope, resignation, and promise for poor people in struggling economies. Miles frames this fascinating family biography with an analysis of the historical and structural conditions that encourage transnational migration, so that the Quitasacas' story becomes a vivid firsthand illustration of this growing global phenomenon.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: The Best American Science Writing 2011 Rebecca Skloot, Floyd Skloot, Jesse Cohen, 2011-09-27 Edited by Rebecca Skloot, award-winning science writer and New York Times bestselling author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and her father, Floyd Skloot, an award-winning poet and writer, and past contributor to the series, The Best American Science Writing 2011 collects into one volume the most crucial, thought-provoking, and engaging science writing of the year. Culled from a wide variety of publications, these selections of outstanding journalism cover the full spectrum of scientific inquiry, providing a comprehensive overview of the most compelling, relevant, and exciting developments in the world of science. Provocative and engaging, The Best American Science Writing 2011 reveals just how far science has brought us—and where it is headed next.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: Everything You Need to Ace Biology in One Big Fat Notebook Workman Publishing, Matthew Brown, 2021-04-27 Biology? No Problem! This Big Fat Notebook covers everything you need to know during a year of high school BIOLOGY class, breaking down one big bad subject into accessible units. Including: biological classification, cell theory, photosynthesis, bacteria, viruses, mold, fungi, the human body, plant and animal reproduction, DNA & RNA, evolution, genetic engineering, the ecosystem and more. Study better with mnemonic devices, definitions, diagrams, educational doodles, and quizzes to recap it all. Millions and millions of BIG FAT NOTEBOOKS sold!
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: High on Arrival Mackenzie Phillips, 2011-08-04 Not long before her fiftieth birthday,Mackenzie Phillips walked into Los Angeles International Airport. She was on her way to a reunion for One Day at a Time, the hugely popular 70s sitcom on which she once starred as the lovable rebel Julie Cooper. Within minutes of entering the security checkpoint, Mackenzie was in handcuffs, arrested for possession of cocaine and heroin. Born into rock and roll royalty, flying in Learjets to the Virgin Islands at five, making pot brownies with her father's friends at eleven, Mackenzie grew up in an all-access kingdom of hippie freedom and heroin cool. It was a kingdom over which her father, the legendary John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas, presided, often in absentia, as a spellbinding, visionary phantom. When Mackenzie was a teenager, Hollywood and the world took notice of the charming, talented, precocious child actor after her star-making turn in American Graffiti. As a young woman she joinedthe nonstop party in the hedonistic pleasure dome her father created for himself and his fellow revelers, and a rapt TV audience watched as Julie Cooper wasted away before their eyes. By the time Mackenzie discovered how deep and dark her father's trip was going, it was too late. And as an adult, she has paid dearly for a lifetime of excess, working tirelessly to reconcile a wonderful, terrible past in which she succumbed to the power of addiction and the pull of her magnetic father. As her astounding, outrageous, and often tender life story unfolds, the actor-musician-mother shares her lifelong battle with personal demons and near-fatal addictions. She overcomes seemingly impossible obstacles again and again and journeys toward redemption and peace. By exposing the shadows and secrets of the past to the light of day, the star who turned up High on Arrivalhas finally come back down to earth -- to stay.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: Paying for Sex Kerr Fuffle, Roscoe Spanks, 2004 This book was written for - and by - horny males who are just too chicken to figure this stuff out for themselves. Commercial sex isn't exactly hard to find no matter where you live, so the main reason why guys who are otherwise interested in this sort of thing haven't managed to indulge in a fully satisfying way is that something - fear - is holding them back. So even if you're a total wuss, we'll show you how easy it is to buy sexual gratification with complete confidence. And if you've dabbled in some kinds of low risk sex-for-pay, such as Internet porn, we'll show you how to safely indulge in more adventurous amusements, such as strip clubs, brothels and escort services - legal ones, that is. If you just want to find some great online porn, have a naked stripper gyrating in your lap or getting laid by an erotic professional without putting your life, health, wallet or reputation at risk, we'll show you how. Here's a review of Paying for Sex by Doxy, who operates the popular web site Phone Slut Diary. Next things second -- Phone Slut Diary had been featured in another independent publication and I promised to mention it here. Paying For Sex is a fabulous little gentleman's guide to web porn, strip clubs, prostitutes & escorts without humiliation, job loss, bankruptcy, infection, bloodshed or incarceration. Because it does not address phone sex, but refers readers to my site (bless), authors Kerr Fuffle & Roscoe Spanks (it cannot possibly be their real names, can it?) decided to put in a few blurbs about me and some other net sites. Although I'm not a guy looking to hire an escort (and don't expect to be) I found many of the details and hints fascinating. The chapters on throwing brothel parties were absorbing. If you're a gentleman (or not so gentle man) that spends money on websites, strippers, or other such diversions this is a really handy little manual to getting the biggest bang for your buck without getting ripped off or in trouble. They explain etiquette, precautions, approximate pricing, common (and not so common) practices. Want to find out how to encourage a stripper to give you a little better than the regular treatment? It's in there. So, I'm going to be adding it to my Store shopping section because it's just awesome. And I'm quoted in very cute passages. And, you know, I'm an egomaniacal slut. No, really. Okay, well sometimes.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: Legal Essentials of Health Care Administration George D. Pozgar, Nina M. Santucci, 2009-10-06 Using the same approach, this text provides a distillation of the widely popular Legal Aspects of Health Care Administration. It presents an overview of health law topics in an interesting and understandable format, leading the reader through the complicated maze of the legal system. The topics presented in this book create a strong foundation in health law. This book is a sound reference for those who wish to become more informed about how the law, ethics, and health care intersect. Features: A historical perspective on the development of hospitals, illustrating both their progress and failures through the centuries. Actual court cases, state and federal statutes, and common-law principles are examined. A broad discussion of the legal system, including the sources of law and government organization. A basic review of tort law, criminal issues, contracts, civil procedure and trial practice, and a wide range of real life legal and ethical dilemmas that caregivers have faced as they wound their way through the courts. An overview of various ways to improve the quality and delivery of health care.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: The Island of Knowledge Marcelo Gleiser, 2014-06-03 Do all questions have answers? How much can we know about the world? Is there such a thing as an ultimate truth? To be human is to want to know, but what we are able to observe is only a tiny portion of what's out there. In The Island of Knowledge, physicist Marcelo Gleiser traces our search for answers to the most fundamental questions of existence. In so doing, he reaches a provocative conclusion: science, the main tool we use to find answers, is fundamentally limited. These limits to our knowledge arise both from our tools of exploration and from the nature of physical reality: the speed of light, the uncertainty principle, the impossibility of seeing beyond the cosmic horizon, the incompleteness theorem, and our own limitations as an intelligent species. Recognizing limits in this way, Gleiser argues, is not a deterrent to progress or a surrendering to religion. Rather, it frees us to question the meaning and nature of the universe while affirming the central role of life and ourselves in it. Science can and must go on, but recognizing its limits reveals its true mission: to know the universe is to know ourselves. Telling the dramatic story of our quest for understanding, The Island of Knowledge offers a highly original exploration of the ideas of some of the greatest thinkers in history, from Plato to Einstein, and how they affect us today. An authoritative, broad-ranging intellectual history of our search for knowledge and meaning, The Island of Knowledge is a unique view of what it means to be human in a universe filled with mystery.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: On Foot to Canterbury Ken Haigh, 2021-09-16 Setting off on foot from Winchester, Ken Haigh hikes across southern England, retracing one of the traditional routes that medieval pilgrims followed to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. Walking in honour of his father, a staunch Anglican who passed away before they could begin their trip together, Haigh wonders: Is there a place in the modern secular world for pilgrimage? On his journey, he sorts through his own spiritual aimlessness while crossing paths with writers like Anthony Trollope, John Keats, Jane Austen, Jonathan Swift, Charles Dickens, and, of course, Geoffrey Chaucer. Part travelogue, part memoir, and part literary history, On Foot to Canterbury is engaging and delightful. My father didn't need this walk, not the way I do. For him it would have been a fun way to spend some time with his son. He had, I begin to realize, a talent for living in the moment Perhaps a pilgrimage would help me find happiness. Perhaps I could walk my way into a better frame of mind, and somehow along the road to Canterbury I would find a new purpose for my life. It was worth a shot. Audio edition from PRH available from Audible, Kobo, Google, and Apple Books.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: Spectacle Pamela Newkirk, 2015-06-02 2016 NAACP Image Award Winner An award-winning journalist reveals a little-known and shameful episode in American history, when an African man was used as a human zoo exhibit—a shocking story of racial prejudice, science, and tragedy in the early years of the twentieth century in the tradition of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Devil in the White City, and Medical Apartheid. In 1904, Ota Benga, a young Congolese “pygmy”—a person of petite stature—arrived from central Africa and was featured in an anthropology exhibit at the St. Louis World’s Fair. Two years later, the New York Zoological Gardens displayed him in its Monkey House, caging the slight 103-pound, 4-foot 11-inch tall man with an orangutan. The attraction became an international sensation, drawing thousands of New Yorkers and commanding headlines from across the nation and Europe. Spectacle explores the circumstances of Ota Benga’s captivity, the international controversy it inspired, and his efforts to adjust to American life. It also reveals why, decades later, the man most responsible for his exploitation would be hailed as his friend and savior, while those who truly fought for Ota have been banished to the shadows of history. Using primary historical documents, Pamela Newkirk traces Ota’s tragic life, from Africa to St. Louis to New York, and finally to Lynchburg, Virginia, where he lived out the remainder of his short life. Illuminating this unimaginable event, Spectacle charts the evolution of science and race relations in New York City during the early years of the twentieth century, exploring this racially fraught era for Africa-Americans and the rising tide of political disenfranchisement and social scorn they endured, forty years after the end of the Civil War. Shocking and compelling Spectacle is a masterful work of social history that raises difficult questions about racial prejudice and discrimination that continue to haunt us today.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: Dead Women Talking Brian Norman, 2012-12-31 Dead women speak as agents of social justice in work by some of the best-known writers of American literature. Brian Norman uncovers a curious phenomenon in American literature: dead women who nonetheless talk. These characters appear in works by such classic American writers as Poe, Dickinson, and Faulkner as well as in more recent works by Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, Tony Kushner, and others. These figures are also emerging in contemporary culture, from the film and best-selling novel The Lovely Bones to the hit television drama Desperate Housewives. Dead Women Talking demonstrates that the dead, especially women, have been speaking out in American literature since well before it was fashionable. Norman argues that they voice concerns that a community may wish to consign to the past, raising questions about gender, violence, sexuality, class, racial injustice, and national identity. When these women insert themselves into the story, they do not enter precisely as ghosts but rather as something potentially more disrupting: posthumous citizens. The community must ask itself whether it can or should recognize such a character as one of its own. The prospect of posthumous citizenship bears important implications for debates over the legal rights of the dead, social histories of burial customs and famous cadavers, and the political theory of citizenship and social death.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: The Last Tortilla & Other Stories Sergio Troncoso, 1999-07 An anthology of stories on Mexican-Americans. One deals with the gulf between Anglo and Latin cultures, another is a romance between an older woman and a younger man, a third is on a boy's satisfaction with a job well done.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: Afternoon Raag Amit Chaudhuri, 2024-05-14 Winner of the UK’s Encore Award for best second novel, a lyrical story of a Bengali student at Oxford University who is caught in the complications of a love triangle. Afternoon Raag is a book of branching and overlapping stories, a book that like memory moves unpredictably in time. In it, a nameless first-person narrator looks back at his student days in Oxford, a period of loneliness and discovery when his affections were torn between two women, and to the summer vacations that took him from England to Bombay, where his parents lived, and later to Calcutta, where he was born. Descriptions of Oxford’s green lawns and drab dorms, of friends and classes and the relentless drizzle, sit beside Bombay street scenes and recollections of the teacher, now dead, from whom the narrator and his mother learned music. Afternoon Raag is a book about the uncertainty of youth and the strange inevitability of growing up. Its images are wonderfully vivid; its rhythms elastic and entrancing. Throughout it is haunted by the spirit of the music teacher, the master singer who gives shape to the elusive and annihilating passage of time.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: Henrietta Lacks Naven Johnson, 2018-02-16 Who Was Henrietta Lacks? On a bright day of August 1st, in the year of 1920, Eliza and Johnny Pleasant brought forth a girl Loretta Pleasant, who's name was later on changed to Henrietta Lacks for reasons unknown to the family. As she grew up, she was given the nickname Hennie. At four years of age her birth mother died of birth complications from her tenth child. Following the hardship of taking care of the children solely, after the demise of his wife, Johnny moved to Clover, Virginia. He then gave guardianship of his children to his folks. Lacks moved in with her grandfather Tommy Lacks, in a two-story log cabin initially owned by her great grandfather and great uncle (it once served as slaves' quarter on the farm). She shared a room with David 'Day 'Lacks, nine years old at the time. He was her cousin, who would later be her husband, and had been there since 1905.
borrow the immortal life of henrietta lacks: Business Marianne Jennings, 2003 Without a doubt, the connection between law and business ethics is made clear with Business: Its Legal, Ethical and Global Environment. Through an integration of examples and applications, users learn how to apply legal and ethical reasoning skills when making business decisions. No other book on the market better prepares tomorrow's managers for the legal, ethical, and global environment in which they will work. Jennings balances coverage of traditional legal and ethical topics with emerging trends in the business world, such as cyberlaw, international law, and alternate dispute resolution.