![]() No other cells had survived in culture for more than a few days, and none had grown. George Gey removed samples of Henrietta's cancer cells and kept them in culture, where, amazingly, they continued to grow at a rapid pace. In 1951, thirty-one-year-old Henrietta Lacks received treatment for cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Medical Center, then the only hospital in the Baltimore area that would treat black patients. And if the retail value of your order is at least $2,500, you'll save 35% on all your paperbacks. ![]() If the retail value of your order is at least $500, you'll save 30%. You'll always save at least 25% on any paperback you order. Each reader will have his or her own opinion about Skloot's approach to the issues raised by Henrietta's cells, and it is important for everyone to be informed and use specific details from the text during discussion. Though the author's explanations of scientific and medical phenomena are fairly comprehensive, it might be helpful to some students for the teacher to gather supplemental material that will help students with their comprehension of events in the book.įurthermore, it is also important for the teacher to spend time discussing the multi-faceted issues involving the intersection of medical advancement and ethics. Skloot examines both the scientific and ethical implications of removing Henrietta's cancer cells from her body without consent, and reveals the disparity between Henrietta's contributions to medicine and her family's inability to pay for proper medical care. Skloot moves back and forth between Henrietta's story and the story of her family as they come to discover that Henrietta's "immortal" cells led to Jonas Salk's polio vaccine and to invaluable research in cancer, AIDS, the effects of radiation, and many other advances in medicine. Science journalist Rebecca Skloot spent eleven years researching and writing The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks -the untold story of the woman who unknowingly saved countless lives with cancer cells taken from her body at Johns Hopkins Medical Center.
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