The HeLa cell line was known to be the oldest successful cell line which has been extensively used in scientific inquiry. It became an invaluable tool in the advancement on of medical and clinical researches encompassing the development of vaccines, understanding the physiology of viruses and other infectious agents, devising developing in vitro fertilization techniques, and even in the use of genomic sequencing.
Remarkable as the number of medical frontiers and research breakthroughs that were pushed and made possible by the famous immortal cells—HeLa, it has also been a great “source of anxiety, confusion and frustration for the family of the woman, Henrietta Lacks, from whom the cells were taken without consent more than 60 years ago”
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The book lays bare the painful history, what can be called as disquieting in present ethical views, on how tissue samples were obtained without consent and how the family was kept in the dark about HeLa cells for many years since Lacks’ death in 1951, which evoked questions and issues on privacy and ethics in the practice of medical and scientific research. Even so, during the that time it was not considered unethical to obtain living tissue samples from a patient without consent or to provide unauthorized medical …show more content…
Later their medical records were released to the press and published without consent,” Skloot wrote.
Initially, the Lacks family had no idea that Henrietta’s cells were used in groundbreaking accomplishments. Adding salt to the wound, the family was never, even poorly, compensated from a multibillion dollar profit earned by cell line companies who made use of Gey’s HeLa cells. Moreover, even the family of the “most important woman” considered by the research community did not even have the chance to access treatments that were developed using HeLa cells. The Lacks’ could simply not afford them.
By the year 2013, the research community yet again wounded the Lacks’ family when German scientists published the data of the successfully sequenced HeLa’s genome without their knowledge. Never had anyone expected it to become a bioethical lightning rod which sparked controversy and reopened old wounds. Jeri Lacks-Whye, Lacks’ granddaughter said during a press