Saturday, May 9, 2015

The Secret of Immortality/After London pg.215-229

I find it really interesting that in the chapter of The Secret of Immortality that Van Valen commented that "HeLa cells are evolving separately from humans, and having a separate evolution is really what a species is all about."(Skloot 216)

It makes me wonder how did the cells react this way? How did they survive this long? The book didn't seem to have a clear answer yet so I'm going to have to wait and see for myself.

In the After London chapter finally the Henrietta Lacks story gets some coverage! The story caught the attention of a BBC producer in London by the name of Adam Curtis.

Zakariyya also known as Joe Lacks also seemed so angry whenever he's introduced. He was listed in the program as Joseph Lacks and was suddenly enraged and threw out all the programs. I have a clear image of that in my head.

I like Deborah and I feel really bad for her. She struggled so much during her life and she really misses her mother. That little short story that she wrote to Henrietta was the sweetest thing.

What still gets to me is the letter from Hopkins hospital saying that they emphasize that they never used the HeLa cells in a commercial venture.

Just because they said that doesn't mean it's true. Does that give them the right to use cells without consent? Does that give them the right to not tell the Lacks family until 50 years after?

Cofield the fraud lawyer is the most ridiculous person in the book so far. He pretended to be a lawyer and tried to sue as many people as possible including the Lacks family for not cooperating with the "agreement".

I really just wanted to punch that guy in the face.





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