The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Group Members: Sarah Akulin, Heather Bolden, Acheena Blackson, Raeghan Franklin
Chapter 1
Dr. Howard Jones was the gynecologist who examined Henrietta Lacks at Johns Hopkins.
1. Why is Dr. Howard Jones known, both worldwide, and in Norfolk?
Dr. Howard Jones was technically the first doctor to discover HeLa cells, as upon his examination of Henrietta’s cervix, discovered the abnormal tumor she had.
Chapter 2
Henrietta Lacks grew up in Clover, VA.
2. Looking at a Virginia map, what is the closest you’ve ever been to Clover, VA?
The closest I’ve been to Clover that I know of was 43 minutes away in Pamplin, VA.
Henrietta Lack was part of the Great Migration when she moved to Baltimore.
3. Describe the Great Migration, and why it occurred.
The Great Migration was a point in time where farmers would travel to other areas to auction off their crops. They did this because they were desperate to earn money and selling in bulk was the best way to do this when families were struggling to pay their bills.
Chapter 3
4. What did Dr. TeLinde think about carcinoma in situ?
Dr TeLinde believed that carcinoma in situ was an early stage of invasive carcinoma.
5. How did Dr. TeLinde prove that he was correct?
Dr. TeLinde conducted a study at John Hopkins looking at the medical records and biopsies from patients diagnosed with cervical cancer within a ten year time span to find the percentage of them that had first been diagnosed with carcinoma in situ.
6. Where did the name “Pap smear” come from?
The name comes from Greek researcher George Papanicolaou who invented the testing method.
7. What is a pathologist looking for in a Pap smear?
A pathologist is looking for changes in the cells of the cervix that often precede cancer.
8. Comment on the transport of radium used to treat cancer.
A taxi cab was used to transport the radium used for treatment from a clinic across town. The radium was carried in brown doctor’s bags in glass tubes.
Dr. Wharton took samples from Henrietta Lacks and gave them to Dr. George Gey.
9. For what was this the eventual source?
Dr Gey and his team were collecting samples of tissue in hopes of growing malignant cells outside the body for cancer research.
10. Discuss the major ethical violation in taking the sample.
The major ethical violation was that informed consent for collecting the sample for research was never asked for or given.
11. How has this ethical violation of sample collection been corrected? Connect this to the Lacks family’s main complaint about the use of Henrietta Lacks’ cells.
Informed consent is now required by federal law and that is because the Lacks family’s main complaint is that they were never informed.
Chapter 4
12. How were HeLa cells named?
HeLa cells got their name from how lab assistant Mary Kubicek labeled the first cultures of Henreitta’s cervical cells using her usual method, which was simply combining the first two and last two letters of the patient’s name together.
13. Comment on the growth comparison between Henrietta Lack’s cervical carcinoma cells and her normal cells.
While Henrietta’s normal cells would die more or less a few days after being cultured, her cervix’s carcinoma cells thrived and multiplied rapidly in the cultures. According to Margaret Gey in the bookHeLa cells grew nearly 20 times faster than the normal cells.
Chapter 7
14-15. Name at least two things that could be studied with HeLa cells.
- HeLa cells were particularly popular in cancer research, given how anomalous they were, and studying them gave great insight into how cancer worked at the time.
- Since the cells ultimately produced an “immortal” tissue culture, HeLa cells could also be used to study aging in the human body and how to reduce traces of aging.
Chapter 8
16. Why couldn’t Henrietta Lacks cells be cultured after she was hospitalized for pain?
Henrietta Lacks cells could not be cultured after she was hospitalized for pain because her body had become so contaminated with toxins that the cells would not grow and died once cultured.
Chapter 13
17. Why is culturing cells, like HeLa cells, important for the field of virology?
Culturing cells like HeLa cells is important for the field of virology because it offers a cost effective option to study the effects of new treatments on human cells. Also it helps to develop new tissues and study term effects of current treatments over time.
Chapter 14
In 1953, the Minneapolis Star “leaked” the name Henrietta Lacks, but it was not correct (although nearly so).
18. What name did they publish?
Helen Lane
19. How did this mistake affect the Lacks family (i.e., what did it prevent them from knowing)? The name release invaded the Lacks’ privacy. They had no idea that her cells were alive.
Chapter 17
20. What was the Nuremberg Code?
The Nuremberg Code was a list of recommendations for the ethics of human experimentation and treatment in scientific research. One concept that fell under this code was the idea of informed consent.
21. How did Dr. Southam violate it, and how did Dr. Mandel propose to violate it? Why was violation different from breaking the law?
Dr. Southam violated the Nuremberg Code by injecting malignant cells into unknowing cancer patients without any form of informed consent. Many of the patients he used were not capable of proper consent because of underlying health issues as well. Violation was different from breaking the law, since violating the Nuremberg Code did not guarantee legal punishment and reprimanding.
22. How could the Nuremberg Code be enforced?
The Board of Regents and the Medical Grievance Committee played a key role in penalizing Southam for his Nuremberg Code violations. This shows that enforcement can be successful by putting researchers under critical/peer review, and legal regulations on how experiments on human subjects are also a very good way to enforce this code.
23. Why was the Nuremberg Code particularly “gray” for obtaining HeLa cells?
This seemed to be a moral grey area of research at the time, since during this time period there weren’t many protections for experiment subjects in the U.S. The Nuremberg code wasn’t widely applied in the medical field there, and even then the HeLa cell situation as well as Southam’s experiments were uncharted territory at the time for research ethics.
Chapter 18
The second cells deposited in the America Type Culture Collection (ATCC) were HeLa cells.
24. Go to the ATCC web site and look for the information that corresponds to Henrietta Lack’s information.
Chapter 22
25. What is the difference between epidermoid and adenocarcinoma cancer? Why is it important to know this information?
The difference between epidermoid and adenocarcinoma cancers is that epidermoid cancers develop from the epidermal cells and adenocarcinoma arise from glandular tissue. Knowing the difference between these two types of cancer is important because while the treatment remains the same adenocarcinoma is more aggressive than epidermoid cancer.
26. What kind did Henrietta Lacks have?
Henrietta Lacks had adenocarcinoma despite having been originally diagnosed with epidermoid cancer.
27. Why might it be easier for someone with cancer to be infected with syphilis?
It might be easier for someone with cancer to be infected with syphilis because cancer affects the immune response of the body and treatments often affect the efficiency of the immune system.
Chapter 23
28. Why did Dr. McKusick’s lab obtain blood from the Lacks family?
To compare the family’s DNA with hers. At the time they were having a hard time trying to determine which cells were hers and which ones weren’t. They were looking for specific genetic markers.
29. Why did the Lacks family think they were drawing blood?
They thought that they were being tested for cancer.
Chapter 25
30. Do you think that a biological entity should be patented? (Do not just say yes or no; offer an explanation for your answer. There is no right or wrong answer!)
There is nothing wrong with patenting a biological entity in and of itself, since when someone works hard to develop something helpful or has a unique biological trait, it makes sense to want to profit off of it and be recognized. However, patenting is harmful when there is no transparency with the source of the biological entity. In the case of John Moore, the true flaw was that the research done on his cells was done without consent or transparency initially, and if there had safeguards put in place, Moore could’ve been involved in patenting his cells or forming a deal with Dr. Golde.
Chapter 27
31. What infection probably caused Henrietta’s cervical carcinoma?
HPV probably caused Henrietta’s cervical carcinoma.
32. What vaccine is currently being used to prevent this infection, and thus cervical carcinoma?
The vaccine that is currently being used to prevent infection with HPV is Gardasil.
33. Describe the molecular basis of how this infection caused Henrietta’s cervical carcinoma.
HPV implements its own DNA into the DNA of the host cell; specifically, it would target the long arm of the 11th chromosome of the host cell in such a way that it would turn off the p53 tumor suppressor gene, causing cancerous cells to develop.
34. What does telomerase do?
Telomerase is an enzyme that repairs the telomere located at the ends of chromosomes.
35. Comment on the presence of telomerase in HeLa cells.
The presence of telomerase in HeLa cells meant the cells could continuously repair their telomeres giving them the ability to divide indifferently.
Chapter 32
36. Is Christoph Lengauer still a professor at Johns Hopkins?
Yes Christoph Lengauer is still at John Hopkins.
When Deborah and Zakariyya were looking at their mother’s cells, one of them was dividing.
37. Was it undergoing mitosis or meiosis?
The cell was undergoing mitosis.
Chapter 33
38. What was the Crownsville Hospital Center called in the 1950’s?
The former name of the Crownsville Hospital Center was “Hospital for the Negro Insane.”
39. What type of research was done on patients at Crownsville during the 1950’s?
The records indicated that pneumoencephalography was conducted on live subjects at the hospital, most likely without any form of consent. It often resulted in long term side effects like seizures, vomiting, and crippling headaches. It also could cause permanent issues like brain damage and paralysis.
Photo Section (if your copy of the book has one)
What do you find on the table that you should not find in a lab (today)?
In the photo, they are not wearing gloves, have open containers of food and unlabeled vials and clutter all within their work space. All of these things are a violation of current OSHA laws.
A. Does your group think that the Great Migration was necessary? Is there a way it could have been prevented? Explain your answer.
Heather: I think it was necessary because the families really didn’t have a way to get out of debt without getting the money up front. I don’t believe that it could have been prevented as economics and nature are hard to predict.
Acheena: Due to social and economic events at the time I don’t think the great migration could have been prevented.
Sarah: I think the social tensions and discriminatory culture of those times made it hard for it to happen any other way, the combination of systemic racism and economic promises the industrialized cities seemed to offer made the Great Migration inevitable.
Raeghan: I think that the Great Migration was necessary, in order to escape the oppressive economic conditions presented in the South. It probably could not have been prevented because families needed to advance in society and the plantation economy of the South could not provide that.
B. Have you read a book (even a child’s book) which discusses a family returning to its roots after that family has participated in the Great Migration?
Heather: No.
Sarah: No I have not, but from what I’ve read from this book, it sounds like a rich history that should be given more relevancy given its significance in our country’s culture.
Acheena: yes, The Watsons Go to Birmingham is a book I read that talks about a family visiting down south after it had moved north the generation before.
Raeghan: I have not, but I would be interested in reading the book Acheena mentioned.
C. Question #11 asks how this ethical violation of sample collection has been corrected? Do you think it has been corrected?
Heather: I don’t believe the problem has been resolved because tissues that have been “discarded” are still able to be used however the surgeon, doctor, nurse, etc. would like without having to tell the patient what they did or compensate them for anything that their tissues may have contributed.
Acheena: I believe that the way informed consent is now required by federal law has corrected the issues raised in this question, however I do not believe that this change has made this right from an ethical standard point for the Lacks Family.
Sarah: I think the ways laws of changed as a result of the abuse of the Lacks family and many other people who were taken advantage of during this time period has been corrected ethically to an extent, but it still feels like the Lacks family should have some form of compensation or at least more current benefits as a result of Henrietta’s contribution.
Raeghan: I do not think that it has been corrected in the sense of repaying the Lacks family, but there are laws that prevent the situation from happening to that extent again.
D. What are types of cells are used for cell culture? Do any other types of cells used for cell culture pose ethical issues?
Sarah: we use all sorts of cells from the body, muscle to liver cells, bacteria, protists, etc… What I’ve heard is the most controversial besides HeLa cells is that people often debate the ethics of using germ cells and stem cells, and even sperm and egg cells.
Acheena: The field of medicine uses all types of cells and yes cells such as stem cells and those from aborted fetuses still raise ethical issues today.
Heather: Today all different types of cells are used. The most controversial cell types probably being stem cells as they are obtained from terminated pregnancies.
Raeghan: Primary cells are cells that are generally used in cell culture. Primary cells are cells that are taken directly from living cells to be grown in vitro; cultures can be conducted from many different types of cells, as mentioned above.
E. Comment on the ethics in #29.
Heather: It is unethical for a doctor to collect any kind of sample without informed consent. They had no idea why they were giving blood and to avoid telling the family, or at least make sure they understand what is going on, is wrong.
Acheena: From an ethical standpoint patients should be informed of why a sample is being taken, give consent for the collection and consent for any testing or research performed on the sample collected.
Sarah: As far as ethics go, it was immoral to misdirect and misinform the Lacks family to get samples, and they should’ve been given an honest answer so that could give informed consent about the tests. Integrity should be an important quality of medical professionals.
Raeghan: The use of HeLa cells is considered unethical because the harvest of the cells from Henrietta Lack was illegal. The family gave no consent to the use of these cells, and were even unaware of their usage in the medical field. At the time, the family received no recognition in the groundbreaking scientific discovery and it was wrong.
F. Chapter 24
Dr. George Gey probably didn’t make any money from HeLa cells, but much money has been made since they were cultured. Yet, the Lacks family was very impoverished. Comment on this dichotomy.
Heather: I can’t say that the Lacks family should have been compensated, but I do believe that with what happened, the family should at least receive full benefit of her contribution. What I mean by that is I believe that they should get things like free Gardasil shots and or free pap smears.
Sarah: It’s a dilemma, because Dr. George Gey didn’t try to exploit the discovery for money, and the intentions of spreading these cultures didn’t seem ill-willed but rather out of a desire to vault medical science forward. It seems somewhat of an injustice how hard life was for the Lacks family and how much information was hidden from them despite the invasion of their own biological privacy. I think Heather’s idea of free vaccines and pap smears due to how monumental Henrietta’s cells’ impact was.
Acheena: I think it’s interesting that despite being worth billions of dollars the Lacks family never compensated. This is further complicated by today’s standards of voluntary participation in research which is often uncompensated.
Raeghan: If the foundation of HeLa cells was based around compensation, then I do believe that the family should have been compensated. However, since it was not money based, I do think that the Lacks family deserves recognition and ownership of the use of HeLa cells because they never had a say in how it was used, and technically the cells belong to them.