Summary: The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks

"Now he sayin John Hopkin killed my mother and them white doctors experimented on her cause she was black" (Skloot 52/53). During the 20th century, many doctors treated African-Americans wrongly in order to benefit and gain more knowledge about human life, disease, and cells. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a book about the discovery of HeLa cells from a girl named Henrietta Lacks. Henrietta was a poor, uneducated, black woman living in Baltimore, Maryland. The author, Rebecca Skloot started learning about HeLa cells when she was young and was curious to learn more about the origin of the cells. HeLa cells were discovered in 1951. During this time scientists and doctors took advantage of black humans. The relationship between exploitation and race is very important and relevant throughout The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
This specific book is about the relationship between exploitation and race in scientific and medical experiments and research. The first example from The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, …show more content…
In the book Skloot talks about a specific procedure that was performed on black woman only. Skloot states, “Mississippi Appendectomies, unnecessary hysterectomies performed on poor black woman to stop woman to stop them from reproducing, and give young doctors a chance to practice the procedure” (50). During the 20th century, doctors were performing unnecessary hysterectomies on African-American woman. By doing this procedure doctors were removing females reproducing organs from their body, in order to gain more knowledge about the surgery, teach younger doctors, and to stop black woman from reproducing. This was a very shocking and heart breaking time for woman and their families. Scientists were not only taking black females reproducing organs but also taking the ability to reproduces leaving them with no children and incomplete

Show More

The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks Summary

Summary Of The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks