The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Book Report/Review Example

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks The Immortal Life of Henrietta, written by an award-winning science writer, Rebecca Skloot, tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, who had been diagnosed with cervical cancer in the twentieth century. A sample of her cells had been taken, without her or her family’s knowledge, to create the first immortal line of cells. Skloot also gives an insight into the history of cell research, as well as the legal and ethical issues regarding this area. This book has been divided into three parts; Life, Death and Immortality. This paper gives a summary of the first two parts, along with an analysis for each part. The first chapter begins with Henrietta’s visit to a gynecology clinic regarding a ‘knot on her womb’. Apparently, she had been bearing the pain for about a year. After being sent to John Hopkins university hospital, a nickel-sized lump was discovered on her cervix. A sample of it was taken, but no abnormalities were found, which shows one that there was something sinister about that lump. Henrietta’s carefree attitude towards her health is also highlighted here. The next chapter describes Henrietta’s early history and life before the discovery of this lump, giving readers an insight into the life of black Americans in that era. Skloot provides details about the medical treatment of cervical cancer during the early 1950’s in the third chapter, along with what Henrietta experienced during her treatment at John Hopkins. After being diagnosed with cervical cancer, healthy and cancerous cells were removed from her body without her permission during an operation. This clearly proves the presence of discrimination against black Americans, as the surgeons did not even bother to take Henrietta’s consent. Skloot has aptly titled the fourth chapter, The Birth of Hela, as it describes Dr. Gey’s (the head of tissue culture research) success in growing Henrietta’s cancerous cells, in contrast to previous attempts. One also understands the good intention of these medical researchers in taking a sample of Henrietta’s cells. However, Skloot keeps the focus on Henrietta’s personal story in the fifth chapter. Apparently, Henrietta was not informed about the side effects of the surgery, and tried her best to lead a normal life despite the pain caused by the cancer. In the sixth chapter, Skloot tries to get the cooperation of Henrietta’s family regarding the story of her life. After reminding Dr Roland Pattillo about the mistreatment of black Americans in the medical field, she manages to get Henrietta’s daughter’s (Deborah) number from him. However, after getting through to Deborah, Skloot is unable to convince Henrietta’s husband to cooperate. Skloot’s experience shows that even people trying to do good things face obstacles on their path. This concept can also be seen in the next chapter, when Dr Gey is unable to gain acceptance within the medical field, regarding the creation of immortal cells, due to an incident in the past. The standard of medical care provided to black American patients in that era is explored in the eighth chapter. This is done by looking at Henrietta’s personal experience, where she was told by the doctors that she was fine, even though she faced a lot of pain. Consequently, a rapidly growing tumor was discovered her stomach. This proves that black Americans were not treated the same as white Americans. In the next chapter, the author tells the reader about her failed attempts at gaining more information about Henrietta’s experience. One can feel the frustration Skloot went through when Henrietta’s family refused to trust her, probably because she is a white journalist. Skloot finally gets in contact with Henrietta’s extended family in Clover, as explained in the tenth chapter. Here, she gains a new insight into Henrietta’s immortal cells; they might have been created from voodoo, rather than by doctors. The last chapter of the first part is probably the most heartbreaking one. It gives the distressing details about Henrietta’s suffering during her last days. According to her cousin, Henrietta suffered extreme pain and died in October, eight months after her diagnosis. Part two continues the story of Henrietta’s immortal cells after her death. Chapter twelve shows how Dr. Gey manages to take Henrietta’s husband’s consent in doing an autopsy to take tissue samples. This shows how the researcher thought of the cells as being an abstract, rather than belonging to a human. Chapter thirteen provides a short but widespread overview of the growth of research and success using the HeLa cells. This chapter further proves how unimportant Henrietta became in the researchers’ eyes, even though her contribution was immense. The next chapter explores the growing interest of the media in the woman behind the HeLa cells. Dr. Gey refused to give Henrietta’s actual name to the press (as part of the standard doctor-patient confidentiality practice). This seems pretty confusing, as because of this her family remained unaware that her cells still existed. Chapter fifteen gives a grim account of the lives of Henrietta’s children after her death, especially of Deborah. Skloot makes one wonder that if the family would have gained recognition regarding the HeLa cells, the children might not have suffered this way. The author gets to know more about Henrietta’s life and descendants from her cousin in Clover. All of this is presented in the sixteenth chapter, along with how little people knew about Henrietta. This proves that people are very materialistic and never thought about what kind of woman she really was. Chapter seventeen further shows readers how researchers and surgeons only saw people as a bag of meat and bones. Skloot shows this by reporting the illegal use of the HeLa cells after their discovery. The problems faced by researchers and Henrietta’s children are discussed in the next two chapters. Evidently, the other normal cells in the laboratories were becoming contaminated by the HeLa cells. This seems funny, as it gives the reader an idea that perhaps it was Henrietta’s way of taking revenge against the researchers. Nevertheless, it led to the researchers improving the handling of cells and being able to identify contaminated cells. On the other hand, the issues faced by Henrietta’s children were quite depressing. The nineteenth chapter shows their struggles to find their place in the world. In the twentieth chapter, Skloot lets the readers know more about the problems associated with the HeLa cells in the mid 1960’s. It was determined that the HeLa cells had contaminated eighteen of the normal cells commonly used in medical research. Consequently, scientists started an extensive research into the HeLa cells. In the next chapter, Skloot describes her meeting with Henrietta’s family. It instantly becomes obvious that they lacked knowledge about the HeLa cells. What is more, they were furious about people believing that Henrietta ‘donated’ her cells to John Hopkins Hospital. One can understand their reaction, as they had not benefitted from the sale of Henrietta’s cells. The closing chapter of this part shows how Henrietta finally gained recognition for her cells, although it is peculiar that her fame came about due to the death of Dr. Gey (who had first created the HeLa cells). The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells the story of a black American woman whose cells became known as the first line of immortal cells. The author of this book, Rebecca Skloot, gives an account of Henrietta’s life, as well as the history and issues regarding cell research. Apparently, a sample of cells were taken from Henrietta’s body without her consent, and used by Dr. Gey to create the immortal HeLa cells. Skloot takes the account of Henrietta’s personal life and experiences throughout her treatment from various sources. Furthermore, various medical instances regarding her cells are also explored. Read More