Part III- Chapters 23-38: Question 42

Study the recent legal disputes over the collection and use of tissue samples filed by the Havasupai tribe against Arizona State University. What similarities and differences do you see between that case and the use of HeLa cells from the Lack's family.

Part III- Chapters 23-38: Question 41

Why did scientists find it necessary to conduct research on human beings? How did
the development of HeLa cells change the way research could be conducted?

Part III- Chapters 23-38: Question 40

One of the arguments against giving people legal ownership of their tissues is
summarized in the following quote from David Korn, vice provost for research at
Harvard University: “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.” 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 are the intended and
unintended consequences of a profit-driven health care system?

Part III- Chapters 23-38: Question 39

Investigate the history of mental institutions in the United States. Explore the role that
journalists have played in influencing public attitudes toward the mentally ill, and
altering how the mentally ill are diagnosed and treated.

Part III- Chapters 23-38: Question 38

What ethical dilemmas could result from financially compensating “donors” and research participants for donating blood, eggs, sperm, or other biological materials? At what point could compensation become coercive?

Part III- Chapters 23-38: Question 37

Research the laws and the ethical debate over offering payment in exchange for participation in scientific studies, or for the donation of blood, eggs, sperm, or other biological materials. Do people have a right to “sell”their body, tissues, or organs if they wish?

Part III- Chapters 23-38: Question 36

How does Skloot’s attitude toward the relationship between religious faith and science evolve as a result of her relationship with the Lacks family?

Part III- Chapters 23-38: Question 35

How does religious faith help frame the Lackses’ response to, and interpretation of, the
scientific information they receive about HeLa?

Part III- Chapter 23-38: Question 34

In the Afterword, Skloot summarizes the main issues and legislation surrounding the
collection and use of human tissue samples. Using her summary as an outline, examine
the evolution of laws concerning tissue research and write a persuasive paragraph on the
issue of whether or not people should be given legal ownership of, and/or control over,
their tissues.

Part III- Chapter 23-38: Question 33

What string of events in 2009 suggests that, if Skloot had not begun researching
Henrietta’s story a decade earlier, it may have been lost forever?

Part III- Chapter 23-38: Question 32

What physical ailments did Deborah suffer from as a result of the excitement and stress
of seeing her mother’s cells for the first time, and learning about Elsie?

Part III- Chapter 23-38: Question 31

Compare the connotations of the name “Crownsville” with the name “Hospital for the
Negro Insane.” What do you think the directors were trying to achieve when they
renamed the facility?

Part III- Chapter 23-38: Question 30

Explain why it would be easy to believe that the Marvel super villain, Hela, Goddess of
Death, was based on Henrietta Lacks.

Part III- Chapter 23-38: Question 29

Why are HeLa cells able to live beyond the Hayflick limit?

Part III- Chapter 23-38: Question 28

Explain the Hayflick limit.

Part III- Chapter 23-38: Question 27

Why did scientists find the Moore lawsuit deeply troubling?

Part III- Chapter 23-38: Question 26

What information about the Lackses was published by McKusick and Hsu? Why is the
publication of this information troubling from an ethical and legal standpoint?

Part III- Chapter 23-38: Question 25

Paraphrase the paragraph in Rogers’s article that the Lacks family found extremely
upsetting. What conclusion did they draw about George Gey and Johns Hopkins?

Part III- Chapter 23-38: Question 24

Analyze the last paragraphs of this chapter. What does Hsu’s request reveal about her
attitude towards the Lackses? What does Skloot reveal by ending the chapter with Hsu’s
request?

Part III- Chapter 23-38: Question 23

From a legal standpoint, how is the fact that the doctors failed to obtain consent prior
to taking blood from the Lacks family in 1973 different from their initial failure to
obtain consent from Henrietta in 1951?

Part III- Chapter 23-38: Question 22

The title of this chapter contains an allusion to the classic horror movie Frankenstein.
What does this allusion suggest about the tension between scientific discovery, and
public perception and fear of such discoveries?