Rebecca skloot s 2010 bestselling book, the immortal life of henrietta lacks, revealed the ethical dilemmas and complex social issues interlaced with hela cells and medical research more broadly. Ethics and the medical field using tissue ownership essay. Mar 20, 20 they also sequenced the transcriptome of hela by using rnaseq. Hela cells the immortal life of henrietta lacks libguides. Rebecca skloot explores the racism and greed, the idealism and faith in science that helped to save thousands of lives but nearly destroyed a family. Discoveries made from hela cells ethical issues behind the use of hela cells about the book the immortal life of henrietta lacks. The importance of hela cells johns hopkins medicine. Hela cells were also used to study how human cells would react in extreme circumstances. Because of the myriad uses of hela cells, theyve been massproduced for scientific research. Ethical justice, but no financial rewards, for the henrietta. Chester southam, a wellrespected cancer researcher and chief of virology at sloankettering institute for cancer research, sought in february 1954 to see the effect of injecting hela cells in patients with cancer and in healthy controls. Nih issues guidelines for hela cell genome data the 2010 bestseller the immortal life of henrietta lacks highlighted ethical controversies surrounding scientists use.
Evaluating the media impact of the immortal life of henrietta lacks on the biobank debate. Hela cells, which never stop dividing, have played a part in some of the most significant modern medical discoveries. Origin of hela cells continues to impact research ethics. The immortal life of henrietta lacks was the first book written about henrietta lacks, but it was not the first book written about hela cells. Check out our revolutionary sidebyside summary and analysis. The cells, and the experiments that were performed with them, led to the creation of a massive forprofit industry. Padma nambisan, in an introduction to ethical, safety and intellectual property rights issues in biotechnology, 2017. He and many colleagues believe that cancer may be caused by a virus or immune system deficiency, and he decides to test these theories using hela, injecting cancer patients with doses of hela to see whether henrietta scancer will spread. Ethics of informed consent and the legacy of henrietta lacks. Mar 26, 20 last week, scientists announced they had sequenced the full genome of the most widely used human cell line in biology, the hela cells, and published the results on the web.
The immortal life of henrietta lacks book midcontinent. As one travels with rogers, the person who did all the original legwork and eventually broke the unprecedented story of not only mysterious hela gene that was revolutionizing the world of medicine, but exposed to the public who was the original donor of the. Henrietta lacks and the debate over the ethics of bio. In the immortal life of henrietta lacks, skloot has an epiphany when she speaks with cousin gary in clover. Finding henrietta lacks kindle edition by rogers, michael. Sep 17, 2019 the immortal life of henrietta lacks was the first book written about henrietta lacks, but it was not the first book written about hela cells. However, when go back to the book, there is a sad truth. Scientists have exposed hela cells to zerogravity conditions, extreme heat, and nuclear fission, which are, again, pretty hard to test ethically on living humans. Professionalismhela cells and timeless ethics wikibooks. New claims prove the henrietta lacks controversy is far. One of the major ethical issues raised by part two of the immortal life of henrietta lacks is who should own and profit from a persons dna. This communications process, or a variation thereof, is both an ethical obligation and a legal requirement spelled out in statutes and case law in all 50 states. In january 1951, henrietta lacks, a 30yearold africanamerican woman from baltimore, was diagnosed with cervical cancer at the johns hopkins medical center.
The immortal life of henrietta lacks brings to mind the work of philip k. The immortal life of henrietta lacks ebook king county. When the hela cell line was created, it was in a not. As part of this henrietta lacks controversy, the cells illustrated some ethical concerns which are involved in the cell and tissue cultures including missteps in science history. Ber her cells helped in the development of vaccines, drugs, and gene sequence and all these medical development save many peoples life on the earth and benefit generation after generation. Safeguards are in place today to prevent such an ethical breach, but in 1951 henrietta lacks and her family werent as lucky. Its extremely rare that a reader receives explanations from an author on the who, what, when, where, and the how of a books creation. May 14, 2017 the cell line was named hela by geys laboratory assistant, who coded cell samples using the first two letters of the donors first and last names.
Henrietta lacks and the debate over the ethics of biomedical. Her cells went up in the first space missions to see what would happen to. Impact on biological research and informed consent duration. Hela cells have led to the examination of the ethical considerations of working with human cells. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cellstaken without her knowledge in 1951became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization, and more. The book delves into the impact that henrietta lacks cells, known around the world as hela cells, have had in science throughout the last 60plus years, as well as the ethical and scientific implications. Author rebecca skloot shared henriettas story in a 2010 nonfiction book, the immortal life of henrietta lacks, that was adapted into a movie released on april 22, 2017. Hela cells were used to develop the first polio vaccine, they. Since 1951, the use of hela cells has been mired in ethical questions regarding patient consent, use of biological materials, and public access to genomic data. What ethical issues do we see in part two of rebecca. As an opportunity to engage broader audiences on these concerns, bioethicists have welcomed the commercial success of rebecca skloots 2010 bestselling book the immortal life of henrietta lacks. Those immortal cells soon became the workhorse of laboratories everywhere. Learning the wrong lesson on privacy from henrietta lacks.
Last week, scientists announced they had sequenced the full genome of the most widely used human cell line in biology, the hela cells, and published the. For more information about ethical obligations, see the amas code of medical ethics, contained in the ama policyfinder. Ethical justice, but no financial rewards, for the. The hela cell line was developed in the 1950s from a particularly aggressive strain of cervical cancer cells taken during a routine biopsy from a 30yearold mother of five, henrietta lacks. Smart news keeping you current new claims prove the henrietta lacks controversy is far from over the family of the woman who changed science forever is seeking. She died at the age of 31 from the effects of cervical cancer on october 4, 1951, after treatment in johns hopkins hospital in baltimore, maryland.
Progress and lingering questions for the use of hela cells 2. In fact, its ethical issues suggested those raised in the immortal life of henrietta lacks, the tale of an africanamerican woman whose cells, collected without her permission in 1951, led to profound scientific discoveries. Nov 19, 2012 henrietta lacks was born august 1, 1920, into a family of impoverished tobacco farmers in roanoke, virginia. Informed consentethical issues immortal life of henrietta. The immortal life of henrietta lacks themes shmoop. Her name was henrietta lacks, but scientists know her as hela. Illegal, immoral, and deplorable in rebecca skloots the immortal life of henrietta lacks.
She was a poor southern tobacco farmer, yet her cellstaken without her knowledgebecame one of the most important tools in medicine. Feb 02, 2010 a cell line called hela for henrietta lacks was born. Ironically, henriettas family lived in poverty and never received any of the financial benefits derived from their mothers tumor cells. Free essays on ethical issues the cells of henrietta lacks. Providing the patient relevant information has long been a physicians ethical obligation, but the legal concept of informed consent itself is recent.
With henrietta lackss cells, gey was able to establish an immortal cell line, i. Henrietta lacks was born august 1, 1920, into a family of impoverished tobacco farmers in roanoke, virginia. Back in her time, it was debated whether or not the patients informed consent should be required in tissue research. However, theres always been an ethical issue with hela cell use. Sequencing of hela genome revives genetic privacy concerns. Oct 07, 2019 her name was henrietta lacks, but scientists know her as hela. They also sequenced the transcriptome of hela by using rnaseq. The tremendous sciences breakthrough was continually made through hela cells. Last week, the rabin martin book club discussed the impact of hela cells and the ethical issues related to informed consent in medical practice. The cell line was found to be remarkably durable and prolific. New claims prove the henrietta lacks controversy is far from. Given how deeply this nonfictional account delves into medical ethics, politics, racism, and scientific discovery as they.
It is the oldest and most commonly used human cell line. Among the important scientific discoveries of the last century was the first immortal human cell line known as hela a remarkably durable and prolific line of cells obtained during the treatment of henriettas cancer by johns hopkins researcher dr. Henrietta lacks film addresses ethical issues penn. The first immortal human cells grown in culture, they are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. Cspan has agreements with retailers that share a small percentage of your. What ethical issues do we see in part two of rebecca skloot. For decades, scientists have been using hela cells in biological research, from developing the polio vaccine and studying the nature of cancer to observing how human biology behaves in outer space. Hela, henrietta lacks, rebecca skoot in her 2010 book the immortal life of henrietta lacks, rebecca skloot told the story of henrietta lacks and the cell lines derived from her cervical tumor biospecimen cell lines known to scientists simply as hela cells. Hela cells and the ethics behind them from the polio vaccine to heart medicine, hela cells have been a key part of medical research since their discovery in the 1950s.
The designation hela is derived from the name of the patient, henrietta lacks. This chapter briefly details the history of hela cells and explores how the cells have advanced medical treatment and shaped biomedical policy. Hela cells have led to many important scientific discoveries, yet there are disadvantages to working with them. Last week, the rabin martin book club discussed the impact of hela cells and the ethical issues related to. The global expansion of biobanks has led to a range of bioethical concerns related to consent, privacy, control, ownership, and disclosure. Aug 08, 20 nih issues guidelines for hela cell genome data the 2010 bestseller the immortal life of henrietta lacks highlighted ethical controversies surrounding scientists use of hela cells.
Its a basic requirement of ethical scientific research when human subjects are involved, something that we now take for granted thanks to things like the nuremburg code and the helsinki declaration. Hela cells are the cells that have helped scientists all around the world discover cures and vaccines that have saved thousands of lives. Dubbed hela heelah cells, after the first two letters of henrietta and lacks, their cancerous characteristic allows them to multiply relentlessly, giving researchers a neverending supply of identical human cells to test, infect and otherwise manipulate in order to. Why is it important to draw a distinction between them. Hela cell line genome sequencing raises ethicalprivacy. Henrietta lacks cells were taken without her permission. The story of henrietta lacks sheds light on ethical. They see her illness not as the result of rampaging cancer cells, but as something manmade i. A cell line called hela for henrietta lacks was born. The story of the hela cells began after the nuremberg trials of world war ii, which involved experimentation on concentration camp prisoners of the holocaust and the eventual nuremberg code and world medical associations declaration of helsinki in 1964, which described a code of ethics for research involving human subjects. Cindy jebb hosted her first session of the deans book club at the west point club, oct. The immortal life of henrietta lacks ebook charlotte. Michael rogers has provided answers to all those questions in finding henrietta lacks.
Although the availability of hela cell genome is a great resource for the researchers using hela cells, sequencing the hela cell without the permission of henrietta lacks family. She was a poor southern tobacco farmer, yet her cells taken without her knowledgebecame one of the most important tools in medicine. The immortal life of henrietta lacks justin streeter the immortal life of henrietta lacks is the story of hela cells and the women and family behind them. Aug 31, 2016 although the creation of hela cells occurred decades before our current system of human research protections, recent events surrounding the publication of hela sequence information underscore the pressing need for policy changes that are based on living ethical frameworks and are equal to the challenges presented by the revolution in genomic. Henrietta lacks is the woman behind the cells that revolutionized the medical field helping develop the polio vaccine, cloning and numerous cancer treatments. Although the availability of hela cell genome is a great resource for the researchers using hela cells, sequencing the hela cell without the permission of henrietta lacks family members has raised ethical and privacy concerns. An immortalized cell line reproduces indefinitely under specific conditions, and the hela cell line continues to be a source of.
The use of hela cells in medical research will be restricted under a new agreement with the family of henrietta lacks, who gave the cells without consent more than 60 years ago. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cellstaken without her knowledge in 1951became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, in. Providing the patient relevant information has long been a. Hela cells were the first human cell line to be established and have. Apr 14, 2017 5 important ways henrietta lacks changed medical science. On october 4, 1951, henrietta lacks, a 31yearold wife and mother of five, died of cervical cancer in the. She was treated with radium brachytherapy, the standard of care at the time, but her condition worsened.
That honor belongs to a conspiracy of cells by michael gold. The immortal life of henrietta lacks by rebecca skloot. Given how deeply this nonfictional account delves into medical ethics, politics, racism, and scientific discovery as they intertwine with the lives of henrietta lacks and her family, i will focus on the more poignant moments that exemplify these issues. Moral vs ethical vs legal whats a good definition for each of these terms. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cellstaken without her knowledge in 1951became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine. Hela cells and the ethics behind them essay 2023 words 9 pages. Although the ethical and policy issues associated with biospecimen research have long been the subject of scholarly analysis and debate 48, 118, 124, the publication of rebecca skloots bestselling book the immortal life of henrietta lacks captured the attention of a much broader audience. Although the creation of hela cells occurred decades before our current system of human research protections, recent events surrounding the publication of hela sequence information underscore the pressing need for policy changes that are based on living ethical frameworks and are equal to the challenges presented by the revolution in genomic. In the immortal life of henrietta lacks, skloot says that donating or contributing tissues implies consent on the part of patient or family. Hela cell, a cancerous cell belonging to a strain continuously cultured since its isolation in 1951 from a patient suffering from cervical carcinoma. The cells came from a cervical cancer sample obtained from henrietta lack in 1951, without her knowledge or permission. Jul 03, 2014 as part of this henrietta lacks controversy, the cells illustrated some ethical concerns which are involved in the cell and tissue cultures including missteps in science history.
August 1, 1920 october 4, 1951 was an africanamerican woman whose cancer cells are the source of the hela cell line, the first immortalized human cell line and one of the most important cell lines in medical research. The line was derived from cervical cancer cells taken on february 8, 1951 from henrietta lacks, a 31yearold africanamerican mother of 5, who died of cancer on october 4, 1951. Use of a womans cells raises ethical questions the new. Hela cells project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. Hela cells of henrietta lacks by nishi singh, paperback. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cellstaken without her knowledge in 1951became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the.
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