2. Explain how HeLa cells were used in each situation. What does the fact that the town still has more than ten churches suggest about the people in Turner Station? What are night doctors? Where did the term originate and why? And who carries our memories? 10. Youve successfully purchased a group discount. SOCIAL STUDIES 1. literature, theatre, film, the visual arts, and culture generally; When Skloot consulted Lurz about the study, he said that, given the years the study was conducted, it was likely Elsie Lacks Crownsville time included being experimented on. Skloot ends this chapter with Deborah deciding to finally give her access to Henriettas medical records. 5. What does Zakariyyas choice of wordsthat damn doctor who done rape her cells reveal about his feelings about and perception of what Gey did? Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole. Were they informed about the research and its risks? WebAnesthesiology, Pain Management. 3. 2. Describe Rogerss interaction with the Lacks family. When Skloot met Sonny and Lawrence, they expressed a belief that the medical advances made possible by their mothers cells are a miracle. How do Zakariyyas beliefs differ from those of his brothers? What does the term informed consent mean? Instant PDF downloads. Gary believes that Henrietta is a divine being come to earth to help humanity; he believes that the immortality of the HeLa line is explained by a Biblical passage stating that all who believe in Jesus will have eternal life. She is not always an easy person to be friends with - she is paranoid and somewhat impulsive, even once becoming physically violent with Rebecca. In the midst of the ceremony, Pullum pulls Rebecca up on the pulpit, saying that she has come to make sense of Henrietta's cells. He became known as a vigilante. Explain the connection that Sonny makes between his mothers personality and the ways he believes HeLa cells have been used. Feedback, questions or accessibility issues: Clint Smiths Releases New Poetry Collection, Above Ground, Go Big Read seeking book suggestions for 2023-24, 2022-2023 Go Big Read Keynote Event with Clint Smith. Where does Cootie think Henriettas cancer came from? HeLa cells: The most influential and controversial discovery in Did Gey benefit or profit in any way from his participation in the research studies? Why wasnt Skloot excited about meeting Zakariyya? Explain your answer. The two women drive to Crownsville, which was formerly known as the Hospital for the Negro Insane. Contact us With warehouses on three continents, worldwide sales representation, and a robust digital publishing program, the Books Division connects Hopkins authors to scholars, experts, and educational and research institutions around the world. Sonny and Lawrence repeat the refrain Thats a miracle, when discussing the scientific advances made possible by their mothers cells. Analyze how the author unfolds an analysis or series of ideas or events, including the order in which the points are made, how they are introduced and developed, and the connections that are drawn between them. 7. This is where youll see your current point status and your earned rewards. Rebecca explains what they've been through, and Gary tries to calm Deborah. 2. LaTonya Deborah and Cheetahs second child. 6. Dont have an account? 5. Literature and Culture of the Modern Language Association, the What specific request did Gey make prior to going into surgery? 6. 3. Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; summarize complex concepts, processes, or information presented in a text by paraphrasing them in simpler but still accurate terms. quarterly journal African American Review promotes a lively exchange After Deborah told him about Elsiethat people thought she was disabled but that Deborah suspected she was just deafLurz rose and went to a storage cabinet. LANGUAGE ARTS 1. Explain how the sale of HeLa evolved into a business. What information about the Lackses was published by McKusick and Hsu? While Lurz made copies, he showed her a 1958 newspaper article about how overcrowding at the hospital led to the death of patients. Why did a committee of scientists form the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC)? The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Cliff Garrett Henriettas cousin. 6. A smooth-talking con artist who pretends to be a lawyer in order to scam money from the Lacks family. Guided Reading and Discussion Questions are provided for each chapter. 7. Examine pages 5 and 6 and write down each step that Skloot took to begin her research. She is the Founder and President of the Henrietta Lacks Foundation. As the story of HeLa unfolds, so does the story of Henriettas surviving children, who for two decades were unaware of the existence of their mothers cellsand the multimillion-dollar industry that developed around the production and use of HeLa. Though this is not entirely accurate from a scientific point of view, it provides a much more emotionally satisfying answer than most scientific explanations. What is Skloot revealing through the juxtaposition of scenes and the division of the book into the three sections of Life, Death, and Immortality? 4. There are many excellent multimedia resources related to this book available on the authors website at RebeccaSkloot.com. Margaret Sturdivant Henriettas cousin and confidante. Deborah is also a generous and forgiving person, as evidenced by her comment that the family cannot go into history with a hate attitude. Why is it important for science reporting to be accessible? All content 2019 Texas Christian University. Gey chose to give away samples of HeLa to his colleagues almost immediately. What was the result of Southams first research study? Deborah shows him the photo of Elsie from Crownsville, and Gary is shocked. 8. According to Henriettas cousin Cliff, what is beautiful about the idea of slaveowning white Lackses being buried under their black kin? She helped raise Lawrences siblings after Henriettas death and advocated for them when she discovered they were being abused. She died when Henrietta was four.Elsie Lacks (born Lucille Elsie Pleasant) Henriettas second born and eldest daughter. And even more miraculously than that, the record contained a picture of Elsie as a girl. Why is this approach sometimes difficult? What can you infer about her personality based on this behavior? 10). Two courts later rule against the patients.2005 By this date, the U.S. government has issued patents relating to the use of about 20 percent of known human genes, including genes for Alzheimers, asthma, colon cancer, and, most famously, breast cancer.2006 An NIH researcher is charged with violating a federal conflict-of-interest law for providing thousands of tissue samples to the pharmaceutical company Pfizer in exchange for about half a million dollars.2009 The National Institutes of Health invests $13.5 million to develop a bank for fetal blood samples.2009 Parents in Minnesota and Texas sue to stop the nationwide practice of storing and conducting researchwithout consenton fetal blood samples, many of which can be traced back to the infants they came from.2009 More than 150,000 scientists join the American Civil Liberties Union and breast-cancer patients in suing Myriad Genetics over its breast-cancer gene patents. 9. About The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Summary, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Video, Read the Study Guide for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Henrietta Lacks: Used as a Means to an End, The Nature of Henrietta Lacks' Immortality, Introduction to The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Bibliography, View the lesson plan for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, View Wikipedia Entries for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. What reason did Ethel and Galen give for moving in with Day after Henriettas death? Investigator and Author for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. What does Lengauer believe about the Lackses right to be financially compensated for the sale of their mothers cells? How did her doctors react to Henriettas intuitive conviction that the cancer was spreading inside of her? 5. Chapter Thirteen: The HeLa Factory 1. What reason does Deborah give for not wanting Skloot to type out Henriettas records word-for-word? 4. Sign up for a free trial here . Elsie Lacks (born Lucille Elsie Pleasant) Henriettas second born and eldest daughter. Before her death, she received treatment in a segregated colored ward at Johns Hopkins, the only hospital in Baltimore that would treat black patients. Explain the various ways in which both the scientific community and the media are guilty of having viewed Henrietta and her family as abstractions. 4. Cootie seems to know and understand a little bit about HeLa cells, but he believes that Henriettas spirit is still present in her cells. Members of the Medical and Scientific Community. How do you think public interpretation might have been different if the story had been published at the time of Henriettas death in 1951? How was the timing of this realization ironic? Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis; provide an objective summary of the text. Deborah feels much better after this ritual, and the two women head outside into the rain, which Gary says has been sent by God to cleanse their souls. The report itself revealed that Elsie was diagnosed with idiocy likely because she and/or her mother was syphilitic, and that, for six months prior to her death, shed forced herself to vomit by sticking her fingers down her throat. HFS provides print and digital distribution for a distinguished list of university presses and nonprofit institutions. 3. It is important to remember that this book is not just about HeLa and Henrietta, but also about the friendship between these two women, and so this night is a crucial turning point in that story. For Elsie Lacks, Crownsville was likely just as bad. Access to Records Request - MI Health Skloot would later learn that doctors had performed experiments on Crownsville patients without their consent. Contact Us - Memorial Healthcare Why do you think Deborah tells Skloot that she just witnessed a miracle? She does not allow Rebecca to photocopy the documents, so Rebecca must go through each one individually. Explain the specific reasons why Zakariyya feels disrespected. Chapter Thirty-Seven: Nothing to Be Scared About 1. Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text. Explain how the human papillomavirus (HPV) causes cervical cancer. Project MUSE Plant-Based Diet and Weight Loss: Do Veggies Work? Lengauer takes the group to another part of the lab and shows them Henrietta's cells under a microscope. Alfred Cheetah Carter Deborahs first husband. He had five children by a former slave named Maria and left part of the Lacks plantation to them. The next day, Deborah's hives have improved slightly but she decides to visit a doctor anyway. More information about Elsie Lacks is available in Chapter 33 of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, titled The Hospital for the Negro Insane.. Look back over Skloots description of Zakariyyas apartment. Project MUSE is a leading provider of digital humanities and social sciences content, providing access to journal and book content from nearly 300 publishers. 13. 4. Doctors conducted research on patients without consent, including a painful procedure called pneumoencephalography, which involves replacing the fluid that protects the brain with helium in order to x-ray the skull. Literacy in Science and Technical Subjects Grades 11-12 Key Ideas and Details Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of science and technical texts, attending to important distinctions the author makes and to any gaps or inconsistencies in the account. What does Deborah do that illustrates that she has a great sense of humor? Summarize the events in Deborahs life leading up to her initial contact with Rebecca Skloot. Moreover, her son Alfred is going to trial right after the conference. Deborah feels possessive of Henriettas records because theyre all she has left of her mothera tragic but understandable confession. Explain how the development of the Pap smear improved the survival rate of women diagnosed with cervical cancer. 2017 African American Review Summarize the various factual errors that appeared in the stories about HeLa. Why was he surprised that he had Elsies records in particular? Describe conditions at the hospital during the time period when Elsie was a patient there. Susan Hsu the post-doctoral student in Victor McKusicks lab who was assigned to make contact with the Lackses and request samples from them for genetic testing without informed consent. 2. 5. Summarize Dr. TeLindes position in the debate over the treatment of cervical cancer. What questions did Deborah have about her mother and sister? Meanwhile, Henrietta's family continued to live in poverty and frequently poor health, and their discovery decades later of her unknowing contribution--and her cells' strange survival--left them full of pride, anger, and suspicion. 5. The result of their relationship is an illuminating portrait of the enduring legacy of Henriettas life, death, and immortality. Since everybody benefits, everybody can accept the small risks of having their tissue scraps used in research. However, in a profit-driven health care system, all citizens do not have equal access to the treatments and medications made possible by tissue and cell research. What did Howard Jones realize when he reviewed Henriettas medical records? What challenges did she have to overcome? For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more! 5. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Chapter Thirty-Two: All Thats My Mother 1. Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Her investigation of the true story behind HeLa eventually led her to form significantand in some cases, life-changingrelationships with the surviving members of the Lacks family, especially Henriettas daughter, Deborah. Compare and contrast the Turner Station that Skloot visited in 1999 with the Turner Station that Henrietta experienced as a young woman. Rebecca tells Gary that she has a song from the previous night stuck in her head, and Gary says that this is God trying to tell her something. Central to this narrative is the relationship between Skloot and Deborah. By Laurie Fickman 713-743-8454. 3. Where does he ask the burden to be placed? The suit claims that the practice of gene patenting violates patent law and has inhibited scientific research. What obstacle kept Deborah from realizing her dream of returning to school? WebElsie Lacks (born Lucille Elsie Pleasant)Henriettas second born and eldest daughter. Analyze the last paragraphs of this chapter. 4. Moores doctor and the University of California appeal.1991 The Supreme Court of California rules against John Moore, saying that once tissues are removed from the body, with or without consent, a person no longer owns those tissues.1996 The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act makes it illegal for healthcare providers or health insurers to make personal medical information public.1999 The RAND Corporation publishes a report with a conservative estimate that more than 307 million tissue samples from more than 178 million people are stored in the United States alone. 2. 2. Chapter Thirty-Three: The Hospital for the Negro Insane 1. 7. Elsie Lacks Why, specifically, did the Jewish doctors at the Jewish Chronic Disease Hospital object to Southams cancer study? What does Zakariyya believe about his birth? Describe the changes that had taken place in the lives of Henriettas children by 1980. Why do you think Deborah breaks out in hives after visiting Crownsville and giving Skloot access to the medical records? Photo courtesy: GettyImages. A few minutes later, a jittery and anxious Deborah joins Rebecca in the room as Rebecca goes through Henrietta's medical records. What are the intended and unintended consequences of a profitdriven health care system? Immediate Lacks FamilyDavid Day LacksHenriettas husband and cousinDavid Jr. Sonny LacksHenrietta and Days third childDeborah Dale LacksHenrietta and Days fourth childEliza Lacks PleasantHenriettas mother. Chapter 37. Zakariyya is quiet for much of the visit, but he thanks Lengauer and Rebecca before he leaves. 10. WebHowever, only a few weeks later, her medical records indicate that Henrietta was in agonizing pain and unable to urinate. He organizes a yearly HeLa conference at Morehouse in Henriettas honor.Stanley Gartlerthe geneticist who dropped the HeLa bomb when he proposed that many of the most commonly used cell cultures had been contaminated by HeLaSusan Hsuthe postdoctoral student in Victor McKusicks lab who was assigned to make contact with the Lackses and request samples from them for genetic testing without informed consentVictor McKusickgeneticist at Johns Hopkins who conducted research on samples taken from Henriettas children without informed consent to learn more about HeLa cellsWalter Nelson-Reesthe geneticist who tracked and published the names of cell lines contaminated with HeLa without first warning the researchers he exposed. Elsie Lacks (born Lucille Elsie Pleasant) Henriettas second born and eldest daughter. As she lay on the operating table, a sample of her cancerous cervical tissue was taken without her knowledge or consent and given to Dr. George Gey, the head of tissue research. Chapter Twelve: The Storm 1. 3. Johnny Pleasant Henriettas father. Prologue: The Woman in the Photograph 1. 11. How was Gartler able to link the contamination problem to HeLa? What part of Elsies medical records did Lurz have? 7. A 1958 article from the Washington Post revealed that Crownsville, MD in the 50s was more awful than Skloot and Deborah had imagined. 5. He and his wife Ethel moved in with Day after Henriettas death to help take care of the children. Explain Van Valens theory that HeLa cells are no longer human. Was his theory accepted by the scientific community? Why did the Tuskegee Institute become involved in the mass production of HeLa cells? Chapter Twenty-Five: Who Told You You Could Sell My Spleen? 1. Describe the progression of Henriettas cancer in the eight months between her diagnosis and her death. What is Lengauers attitude toward the HeLa contamination problem? He attempts to sue Hopkins and the Lackses for refusing to allow him access to Henriettas medical records. Your email address will not be published. 14. Why did Deborah and Skloot travel to Crownsville? What effect did sensationalized journalism and fiction about HeLa and cell cloning have on Deborah? Chapter Four: The Birth of HeLa 1. 5. The women are allowed to continue through the records. ABOUT THIS GUIDES WRITER Amy Jurskis holds a BA in English from the University of Georgia and an MAT from Agnes Scott College. 2. Nothing to Be Scared About 2001. She could have had a stroke. Chapter Seven: The Death and Life of Cell . In 1992, African 5. 4. Instead, she focuses on getting her grandchildren educated. What does Cootie think about the reason that HeLa cells were used to develop a polio vaccine? How is it resolved? SparkNotes PLUS 5. Explain what happens during somatic cell fusion. How does Deborah demonstrate that she is in control when her right to view Elsies records is questioned? Days health had deteriorated too much to make the trip, Sonny had to work, and Lawrence still wanted to sue Hopkins. A supervisor arrives, demanding to know why they are going through the records. She organized an effort to build a Henrietta Lacks museum. Ethel Galens wife, an abusive caregiver to Henriettas three youngest children. Patients with all sorts of diagnosesfrom dementia and TB to low self-esteemwere grouped together in airless rooms, and many patients had to share beds, sleeping head to toe on twin mattresses. Elsie Lacks medical records show that she suffered abuse, experimentation, and mistreatment. He carefully explains the process of cell division, and explains that all the information that made Henrietta herself is contained within these cells, in their DNA. Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership. 3. 7. Why did Deborah choose not to request a copy of her mothers medical records? On the Horizon: Painless Way to Check for Bladder Cancer Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. How does Day initially respond to Skloots request for information?