The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

What are the ethical issues underlying this story?  How does the era in which this story took place influence how we think about these ethical issues?

Rebecca Skloot's 2010 book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks provides readers with an engaging examination of ethical considerations surrounding human tissue use in scientific research. Based on Henrietta Lacks, an African American woman whose cancer cells were taken without her knowledge in 1951 before later showing a remarkable ability to replicate and survive outside the body, eventually leading to the HeLa cell line being created as an immortal human cell line. It raises important issues around ethics, race, gender, and accountability within scientific research practices while also challenging readers to reflect upon their own perspectives.

One of the significant ethical concerns arising from Henrietta...