Alison Stefansic

Henrietta Lacks/2nd period

Mrs. Tatum
2/7/18
PART I: Differences among 4 sources
 The bulleted list focuses on dates and discoveries unlike “The Immortal Life of Henrietta
Lacks” which provided the family’s point of view
 The article “Henrietta’s Dance” focused on Henrietta’s day-to-day life and information
about George Gey and his discovery
 “An Obsession with Culture” focuses on George Gey and his fame from the culturing of
cells
 All articles had a different viewpoint on HeLa cells and their history despite all being
written by the same author
 “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” includes the communities affect to the discovery
 “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” and “Henrietta’s Dance” are both written in an
informal style
 “An Obsession with Culture” and the bulleted list were written in a more formal style of
wrtiting
PART II: Medical Ethics
Position Statement Support for Position Support Against Position
People should have the right Yes, people should know No, people should have no
to control what’s done with what is happening to their say in what happens to their
their tissues once tissues are cells and the tests being cells because they agreed to
removed from their bodies. performed on them. They also have research done on them.
should have the right to tell They should realize they got
researchers what they are not their tissues removed and do
allowed to do. not need to apply consent.
Giving patients property right Yes, patients should have No, patients should not have
of their tissues might hinder property of their tissues property of their tissues
research because fewer because they were apart of because cells are so readily
people would allow the use of their body therefor making available due to the
their tissue, restricting access them theirs. If a patient does increasing population and an
to the necessary raw not want to give up their increasing number of the
materials. rights, then they should not deceased.
donate.
Tissues taken from a patient Yes, the tissue was a part of No, a donation does not
and sold for profit should the person therefor they involve the patient profiting.
profit the individual’s family should be paid because they A donation is strictly free
from whom the tissue was gave that away. because it was given up.
taken.
 Allowing patients to profit
from tissues would hinder
scientific progress because
patients would hold out for
excessive profits.
People can sell their sperm,
eggs, and blood. There is no
reason they should not be
able to sell their organs and
tissues.
Yes, allowing patients to
profit would slow the
research profit limiting the
amount of discoveries
scientists make.
Yes, because humans have
free will and intellect they
should be allowed to do what
they please to their body.
No, patients should decide
what their cost is for their
cells because they are apart of
their body and they are the
ones giving them away.
No, giving away a person’s
organs and tissues can pose as
a health threat to the patient
and lead to death. This would
be a major problem because
the patient would die.

Part III: Conclusion Questions

7. I believe Dr. Gey’s use of Henrietta’s cells was unethical because Henrietta did not give
consent for her cells to be taken. Henrietta was unaware that her cells were being taken therefor
it is unethical. Even though in the novel “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” her daughter
Deborah Lacks informs Mrs. Skloot that her mama would want to help people it still violates
Henrietta’s consent. In “Henrietta’s Dance” the audience is further informed about the
discoveries being made without Henrietta’s knowledge. “Gey introduced the nation to his hopes
for curing cancer while Henrietta's body lay in the Hopkins morgue, her toenails shining with a
fresh coat of red polish. And her family knew nothing of any cells”, Skloot writes in “Henrietta’s
Dance”. This further supports my claim despite Dr. Gey’s discoveries, taking cells without
consent is unethical.
8. Without Dr. Gey’s discoveries, there would be no field of virology, Polio would still take the
lives of hundreds of children, and there would be no evidence of the number of chromosomes in
a cell or how humans affect to different forms of chemicals/radiation. According to “An
Obsession with Culture” the fight of the Polio virus would still be occurring today and there
would be no evidence on the HPV virus. Doctors would have little understanding of cell life and
cell division.
9. Yes, I do believe the Lack’s family should be compensated because Dr. Gey was compensated
for the selling of her cells. They live in a poor neighborhood with little money and barely getting
by. While other people are making millions of dollars off her cells and the discoveries made by
them. If Dr. Gey was not compensated, I believe they should not be since no one made a profit
from her cells.
Works Cited:
Johns Hopkins Magazine -- April 2000. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://pages.jh.edu/jhumag/0400web/01.html
Skloot, R., Campbell, C., Turpin, B., & Macmillan Audio (Firm). (2016). The immortal life of
Henrietta Lacks.
Tatum/Harrison High School, S. (2018, February 8). Bulleted List: Henrietta Lacks.
University of Pittsburgh: Pitt Magazine. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.pittmag.pitt.edu/mar2001/culture.html