Henrietta Lacks-Essay

 write a 5.0 (minimum) to 6.0 page essay (pages typed, numbered, double-spaced and stapled) that explores several of the prominent themes in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. This is a narrative that features various intersections of science, race, gender and social class. How do these factors contribute to the story of Henrietta Lacks and the legacy that followed?

Rebecca Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (New York: Broadway Paperbacks, 2011) 313 pages. [You must have this book citation at the top of page 1]

Questions

1. Did the doctors and scientists at Johns Hopkins provide proper care and treatment for Henrietta Lacks?
2. WhatkindofenvironmentandcommunitywasClover,Virginia?
3. Was the scientists’ focus on culturing cancer tissue outside the body an

   appropriate and correct consideration that superseded informing or asking

   for permission from Henrietta or her family?

4. How important was World War II to the story of Henrietta Lacks? How

   would her story have been different had she and David remained in Clover,

   Virginia?

5. Why are the members of Henrietta’s family so suspicious and mistrustful

   about what happened to their mother at Johns Hopkins? In what ways

   were their concerns justified?

6. How should we understand the research behavior of Dr. Chester Southam?

   Was this a case about practice and barbarism were his actions acceptable scientific practice? What sanctions did Southam receive after his treatment of test subjects was exposed?

7. How should we consider the work and behavior of Dr. George Gey at Johns Hopkins? Were his thoughts, behaviors and goals appropriate?

8. By what reference or values that members of the Lacks family interpret and understand the world around them? Were they prepared to understand and accept the practices and values of the scientific world? How was the world of science and the scientists prepared to deal with people like them?
9. Whatweretheexperimentsbeingconductedbygovernment-funded scientists at Tuskegee Institute, Alabama? How did this contribute to questions and misconceptions in the Lacks case?