Just finished the first half of the book about Henrietta’s life and the author’s journey to discover the history behind the HeLa cells. I didn’t expect to learn about how racism existed even in the medical field and the extent to which African Americans were segregated. I did find it disturbing that Henrietta was unaware of the sample the doctors took of her cervix. Since she was being treated for free by John Hopkins Hospital they felt that it was fair to conduct research on her as a form of payment. It is crazy to think that her cells are immortal and that gives me a greater appreciation for their use in research. The author also talks about the Tuskegee syphilis study in which the infection was allowed to infect African American men until they died from it. It makes you think about the ethical issues and to what extent are we willing to go in order to advance medicine.
Can you think of other types of discrimination that is taking place right now? For example many states do not allow women to get compensated for their eggs if they are used for stem cell research...
ReplyDeleteI was just reading a journal on geneticsandsociety.org that was stating that,the drugs they most often use to cause the ovaries to produce large amounts of eggs can cause severe side effects. As well as the process in which the eggs are extracted can cause severe damage. So not only are they not getting paid for their contributions, it is also effecting their health.
ReplyDeletewell said tim... we wouldn't think racism took place the way it did, and Rebecca Skloot wrote this book in great detail, so we felt the segregation that Henrietta was going through. Some of the parts that really disturbed me is when they were treating Henrietta by putting a tube filled with radium inside Henrietta's cervix and sewed it in place and not to mention taking tissue from her tumor as well as healthy cervical tissue WITHOUT her consent of wanting to be a donor. Makes us appreciate that they have made laws, but also makes you wonder if doctors still do that.
ReplyDeleteThe Tuskegee syphilis studies were astonishing. It really was shocking to see how unethical the research experiments being performed were and how it appeared that there was no sympathy for the patients being observed. It was as though their main goal lie in providing the community with more knowledge of the disease even though penicilin was already a commonly used treatment, and if they died during the process, then so be it. In terms of Henrietta's family, I think the most unfortunate thing was that they didn't receive any sort of financial compensation even though it's safe to say that HeLa cells have generated billions of dollars in revenue...yet the family can't even afford their own medical treatment
ReplyDeleteI find it quite a coincidence that I'm reading this book right now because I am doing research with HeLa cells in Dr. Kim's lab. We are currently testing the ability of a hobo-element transposon to donate neo gene into human cancer cells. Had no idea there was such a controversy behind the history of these cells.
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