Deborah Lacks
Deborah Lacks is the second daughter of Henrietta and David (Day) Lacks. She loved her mother very much, but lost her as a one year baby to cervical cancer. Throughout most of her life, Deborah had no idea that her beloved mother's cells had been taken from her without anyone's approval or knowledge. Not until Deborah was a middle-aged woman with grandchildren that she learned of her mother's cells' fate. These cells were being used all over the world by scientists who used these them for great research, but had no idea where the cells had come from.
When doctors figured out where HeLa had come from they found her family and asked them for blood. Being poorly educated people, the Lacks' thought that they were being tested for cancer. After the doctor who drew their blood left, he never called them back because he just need their blood for research. This left the family, Deborah most of all, worrying. She wanted to know whether she had cancer or if she was safe. As it says on page 185, "But Deborah couldn’t stop worrying. She was terrified that she might have cancer, and consumed with the idea that researchers had done— and were perhaps still doing— horrible things to her mother."
She did not want to die the same painful death as her mother, and because scientists had not explained anything to her, she thought she was doomed to that fate.
The scientists caused Deborah so much anxiety because they would not take time out of their schedules to explain the simple science of cells, or even just tell her if she was cancer free. Not only were they taking her blood without her knowing why, but they did not even have the decency to explain to her what and why they were doing that.
Dr. George Gey
Dr. Gey was the doctor who first grew Henrietta's cells in culture. He was the doctor who attempted to grow human cells in culture, and after many many tries, he finally discovered that Henrietta's cells grew infinitely. After he found the perfect culture and the cells he continued to make the culture and he began giving HeLa cells to almost any doctor trusting that they were using them for appropriate research. He soon had spread HeLa around the world without really wondering or caring about who had given or had their cells taken from them.
Dr. Gey had worked with so many cells throughout his life trying to find a cell that could be researched on. He only saw cells, even those from other humans, as just tools of science. He wanted to help people but he soon forgot that the cells he was working with were APART of people. As it says on page 89, "Gey asked her doctors if they’d do an autopsy. Tissue cultists around the world had been trying to create a library of immortal cells like Henrietta’s, and Gey wanted samples from as many organs in her body as possible, to see if they’d grow like HeLa."
This quote clearly shows that Dr. Gey only saw Henrietta as a tool of science. He showed no pity for the woman whose body was overrun by cancer. He was to being malicious, he was just more focused on science.
Mary Kubicek
Mary Kubicek was Dr. Gey's assistant. She helped him attempt to grow the many cells from the many people that came to John Hopkins Hospital for help. She soon got bored with her job, as no cells would grow. She still did her job efficiently but she never expected any of the cells to grow, that is until she dealt with Henrietta's cells. She prepared them in the culture, and they grew! It was a very exciting time in her career. She continued to help Dr. Gey with his research. She, like Dr. Gey, only saw the cells as tools of science. She was not disrespectful to them and she understood that they were to be treated with respect, but she soon lost sight of the fact that the had come from a living being.
As Dr. Gey's research continued, they realized that they needed more of Henrietta's cells to see if her none cancerous cells would grow. Still, Mary only saw these cells as tools of research. She went to collect samples from Henrietta with Dr. Wilbur. She had never seen a dead body before and she hated being with the body. She continued to just see Henrietta as a dead body, a tool of science, until she looked down and saw Henrietta's chipped red nail polish. As it says on page 90, "'When I saw those toenails,' Mary told me years later, 'I nearly fainted. I thought, Oh jeez, she’s a real person . I started imagining her sitting in her bathroom painting those toenails, and it hit me for the first time that those cells we’d been working with all this time and sending all over the world, they came from a live woman. I’d never thought of it that way.'"
It was only after seeing Henrietta's nail polish that Mary really understood that these cells were not just animal cells or plant cells, but that they were from a woman who was alive and well loved. Mary was one of the scientists who originally just saw the cells as tools of science, but after seeing Henrietta's body, she understood that this was a person who affected the people around her and was probably very missed She understood that Henrietta was more than her cells.
Rebecca Skloot
Rebecca Skloot, the author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, sympathizes with the Lacks' very much. She learned of Henrietta and her cells and she became very interested in the social aspect of it as well as the scientific part. She wanted to learn about the biology of the cells and why they are so important to today's science, but she was also had questions she wanted answered about how Henrietta's family felt about it. She learned through talking to the family, especially Deborah Lacks, that they did not even know their mother's cells had been alive until many years after her death. Many reporters and scientist tried to confuse and make money off of Deborah, and some of them got very close to doing so. But there were a few scientists and reporters who wanted the real story and to acknowledge her mother's contribution to science. Skloot was one of those reporters who wanted the real story, but after so many fakes, Deborah was not too willing to talk to Skloot. It took a lot of time to get Deborah to confide in Skloot so she could make her book.
As Skloot became familiar with Lacks, she started to understand the family behind the cells. She started to feel empathy for Deborah and her family at the lose of their mother. Learning about Henrietta's life and her personality from Henrietta's remaining family made Deborah feel compassion for Henrietta as a person, not just some cells. As it she says in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, “I’ve tried to imagine how she’d feel knowing that her cells went up in the first space missions to see what would happen to human cells in zero gravity, or that they helped with some of the most important advances in medicine: the polio vaccine, chemotherapy, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization. I’m pretty sure that she—like most of us—would be shocked to hear that there are trillions more of her cells growing in laboratories now than there ever were in her body.”
Rebecca was really good at understanding the injustice of the situation as well as the positive side of the science. She respected Henrietta and her family's lose, but she was grateful for the what Lacks' cells had done for science and medicine.
Deborah Lacks is the second daughter of Henrietta and David (Day) Lacks. She loved her mother very much, but lost her as a one year baby to cervical cancer. Throughout most of her life, Deborah had no idea that her beloved mother's cells had been taken from her without anyone's approval or knowledge. Not until Deborah was a middle-aged woman with grandchildren that she learned of her mother's cells' fate. These cells were being used all over the world by scientists who used these them for great research, but had no idea where the cells had come from.
When doctors figured out where HeLa had come from they found her family and asked them for blood. Being poorly educated people, the Lacks' thought that they were being tested for cancer. After the doctor who drew their blood left, he never called them back because he just need their blood for research. This left the family, Deborah most of all, worrying. She wanted to know whether she had cancer or if she was safe. As it says on page 185, "But Deborah couldn’t stop worrying. She was terrified that she might have cancer, and consumed with the idea that researchers had done— and were perhaps still doing— horrible things to her mother."
She did not want to die the same painful death as her mother, and because scientists had not explained anything to her, she thought she was doomed to that fate.
The scientists caused Deborah so much anxiety because they would not take time out of their schedules to explain the simple science of cells, or even just tell her if she was cancer free. Not only were they taking her blood without her knowing why, but they did not even have the decency to explain to her what and why they were doing that.
Dr. George Gey
Dr. Gey was the doctor who first grew Henrietta's cells in culture. He was the doctor who attempted to grow human cells in culture, and after many many tries, he finally discovered that Henrietta's cells grew infinitely. After he found the perfect culture and the cells he continued to make the culture and he began giving HeLa cells to almost any doctor trusting that they were using them for appropriate research. He soon had spread HeLa around the world without really wondering or caring about who had given or had their cells taken from them.
Dr. Gey had worked with so many cells throughout his life trying to find a cell that could be researched on. He only saw cells, even those from other humans, as just tools of science. He wanted to help people but he soon forgot that the cells he was working with were APART of people. As it says on page 89, "Gey asked her doctors if they’d do an autopsy. Tissue cultists around the world had been trying to create a library of immortal cells like Henrietta’s, and Gey wanted samples from as many organs in her body as possible, to see if they’d grow like HeLa."
This quote clearly shows that Dr. Gey only saw Henrietta as a tool of science. He showed no pity for the woman whose body was overrun by cancer. He was to being malicious, he was just more focused on science.
Mary Kubicek
Mary Kubicek was Dr. Gey's assistant. She helped him attempt to grow the many cells from the many people that came to John Hopkins Hospital for help. She soon got bored with her job, as no cells would grow. She still did her job efficiently but she never expected any of the cells to grow, that is until she dealt with Henrietta's cells. She prepared them in the culture, and they grew! It was a very exciting time in her career. She continued to help Dr. Gey with his research. She, like Dr. Gey, only saw the cells as tools of science. She was not disrespectful to them and she understood that they were to be treated with respect, but she soon lost sight of the fact that the had come from a living being.
As Dr. Gey's research continued, they realized that they needed more of Henrietta's cells to see if her none cancerous cells would grow. Still, Mary only saw these cells as tools of research. She went to collect samples from Henrietta with Dr. Wilbur. She had never seen a dead body before and she hated being with the body. She continued to just see Henrietta as a dead body, a tool of science, until she looked down and saw Henrietta's chipped red nail polish. As it says on page 90, "'When I saw those toenails,' Mary told me years later, 'I nearly fainted. I thought, Oh jeez, she’s a real person . I started imagining her sitting in her bathroom painting those toenails, and it hit me for the first time that those cells we’d been working with all this time and sending all over the world, they came from a live woman. I’d never thought of it that way.'"
It was only after seeing Henrietta's nail polish that Mary really understood that these cells were not just animal cells or plant cells, but that they were from a woman who was alive and well loved. Mary was one of the scientists who originally just saw the cells as tools of science, but after seeing Henrietta's body, she understood that this was a person who affected the people around her and was probably very missed She understood that Henrietta was more than her cells.
Rebecca Skloot
Rebecca Skloot, the author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, sympathizes with the Lacks' very much. She learned of Henrietta and her cells and she became very interested in the social aspect of it as well as the scientific part. She wanted to learn about the biology of the cells and why they are so important to today's science, but she was also had questions she wanted answered about how Henrietta's family felt about it. She learned through talking to the family, especially Deborah Lacks, that they did not even know their mother's cells had been alive until many years after her death. Many reporters and scientist tried to confuse and make money off of Deborah, and some of them got very close to doing so. But there were a few scientists and reporters who wanted the real story and to acknowledge her mother's contribution to science. Skloot was one of those reporters who wanted the real story, but after so many fakes, Deborah was not too willing to talk to Skloot. It took a lot of time to get Deborah to confide in Skloot so she could make her book.
As Skloot became familiar with Lacks, she started to understand the family behind the cells. She started to feel empathy for Deborah and her family at the lose of their mother. Learning about Henrietta's life and her personality from Henrietta's remaining family made Deborah feel compassion for Henrietta as a person, not just some cells. As it she says in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, “I’ve tried to imagine how she’d feel knowing that her cells went up in the first space missions to see what would happen to human cells in zero gravity, or that they helped with some of the most important advances in medicine: the polio vaccine, chemotherapy, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization. I’m pretty sure that she—like most of us—would be shocked to hear that there are trillions more of her cells growing in laboratories now than there ever were in her body.”
Rebecca was really good at understanding the injustice of the situation as well as the positive side of the science. She respected Henrietta and her family's lose, but she was grateful for the what Lacks' cells had done for science and medicine.