In honor of Black History Month, has anyone ever heard of Henrietta Lacks? I saw a synopsis of a new book and found this a pretty amazing story upon additional research. She seems to have an incredible legacy, yet I was completely unaware of her. http://abcnews.go.com/WN/womans-cells-changed-medicine/story?id=9712579
Interesting story. I feel as though her family should be compensated in some manner. Determining what/how much is the problem. They did take her cells at a time when it was common place to take cells from patients without their knowledge. But I'm guessing that the medical community, at that time, had no clue how valuable her cells were. Tough call. On a side note, how common are these types of cells? If they are extremely rare, would this be a sign of the evolution of the human genome structure so that one day, we might evolve/develop the capability to regrow limbs/organs/other body parts?
sorry, but out of topic. Can someone please bump the thread Fatty made about the best restaurants around town?!?! TIA :grin:
Dude, you dont know anything so just keep your mouth shut. I donated to the tip-jar before but Clutch never promoted me and it really isnt a big deal that he hasnt either. Now I was asking nicely for a favor, if you don't like it don't reply to my post.
"To this day, her family has never been paid a cent, nor been given an apology. " Typical Remember Tuskeegee! Rocket River
There are 20 threads on the front page he could have done this in but he CHOSE this one . . . yea IT IS EXACTLY WHAT WE THINK IT IS Rocket River
yeah, I tried googling it. Dont think I just came in here askin for a favor without putting in some effort myself first. Wasnt looking for that thread but thanx tho.
It boggles me that you can compare this to the horrific things that were done to the Tuskeegee Airmen. Lacks was not harmed in any way by the taking of her cells. Yes, consent should have been asked for, and I certainly think that at the minimum an apology should be made. But to compare this to Tuskeegee?
Yeah it is a bit far fetched seeing as how people of Tuskeegee were not given treatment and died as a result of it. They really should compensate her family for the advances made through medicine because of the HeLa cells...but I don't know who would pay them...
I think an apology is coming; probably a memorial too. However, as someone who has used these cells and understand the power that lies in them, everyone in the (relevant) scientific community respects, appreciates and acknowledges the great sacrifices regular individuals make to the advancement of science. It can be anything from donating your body to science or participating in a drug trial. Regardless, every one of those contributions are celebrated and appreciated every day by the people who use them. And this is the reason why I do not understand why her family is angry or anything. The secrecy is strictly for the privacy of the individual, not for a lack of acknowledgment or anything. Do I believe the family should be compensated? If they were not promised compensation initially, then no. In today's society, you are told up front whether or not you will receive compensation, before hand. Back in high school, I did summer research over UT-Dallas. One of the things they made sure was that I sign a document essentially saying that any findings or whatever that come from my work there is the property of the University. I even had to submit my lab notebook and all relevant data to them before leaving. While it seemed absurd then, it makes a lot of sense now. I guess the least these giants could do is set up some sort of memorial fund in her honor to help financially burdened individuals pay for health care.
