2018 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Rebecca Skloot is the author of New York Times best seller, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks . Skloot studied at the University of Pittsburgh, Colorado State, and Portland Community College. She has a B.S. in biological sciences and an MFA in creative nonfiction. She has taught creative writing and science journalism at the University of Memphis, the University of Pittsburgh and New York University. Prior to her work as an author, she made a living by working as a veterinary technician, spending time at private practices and shelters. Her debut book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks  has been translated into 25+ languages and published internationally. The process of writing and researching for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks  took Skloot over 10 years to finish. Located in the Acknowledgements section of her book, Rebecca Skloot comments, "First and foremost, I owe endless thanks to Henrietta Lacks's family. Deborah was the soul of this book-her spirit, her laugh...

“I think people are morally obligated to allow their bits and pieces to be used to advance knowledge to help others. Since everybody benefits, everybody can accept the small risks of having their tissue scraps used in research.”-David Korn, Harvard University             I do not believe in “moral obligation.” I believe in legal obligation. When the Lacks family lead me to believe that the HeLa cells belonged to them because they were related, I fought for their rights to compensation and rights to the cells. As the legal relatives I believed that they had rights as they cells were taken and used for science without the knowledge of the subject (Henrietta) or the family. The family having also never recieved compensation for the research being done and the advances made, deserved what they were due. I believed “Hopkins was guilty of medical malpractice, and that it was time to sue for the family’s cut of all the money Henrietta’s cells had earned since ...

I am Dr. Howard Jones. I graduated from Amherst College in 1931 and proceeded to attend the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. After my medical school graduation I went to work at a private practice before being hired at johns Hopkins. I am a gynecological surgeon well known for being Henrietta Lacks's doctor and working on   in vitro fertilization. I believe that HeLa cells should be used for medical advances in any way that they can be.  “I think people are morally obligated to allow their bits and pieces to be used to advance knowledge to help others. Since everybody benefits, everybody can accept the small risks of having their tissue scraps used in research.” I fully agree with this statement. If there is no medical necessity anymore for  what  is going to be used to help possibly thousands of others then people should be fully willing to donate tissues. With every small piece of tissue donated there could be many lives saved. It is a simple tihng for p...