Amelia PA Blog

This is a book by Rebecca Skloot about the cells of Henrietta Lacks – called HeLa cells. It tells about the years of genetic research done on her cells – polio vaccine, STDs, cancers, cloning, chemotherapy etc. Her cells have lived on in biomedical research since her death in the 1951 from cervical cancer.

I have just started reading this book and wanted to publicize it for those who have an interest in biomedical ethics and research.  It turns out that Henrietta Lacks’ cells were harvested without her or her family’s consent. In addition to all of the research done on her cells, more research was done on her family members for various reasons as well.

I will keep posting as I go along.