Henrietta Lacks Research Paper

Genetics influences equality in many ways. In class we learned a couple ways genetics has influenced equality throughout the years. Although this isn’t an issue in the present day, it was during the time of the civil rights movement. An example of how genetics influences equality is shown through the book we read in class.
The novel Henrietta Lacks was about an African American born on August 1, 1920, in Roanoke, Virginia. She married her cousin, and had five children with him. Henrietta's children meant the world to her and she adored them. Although, she grew up in the 1940s-1960s, which was during the Civil Rights movement. Henrietta had to teach her children why they were being discriminated against and help them learn the right morals to

Informed Consent as a doctrine came into practice in the late 1970s, nearly three decades after Henrietta Lacks death. The cells taken from Henrietta Lacks were obtained without her knowledge (Skloot 34). While this was once a common practice, her family was also unaware of the cells for 25 years. Despite this, if the cells were not taken from Henrietta, the polio vaccine would not have been created as soon (Skloot 38). The reason Henrietta was at Hopkins in the first place was because she was black, and there were not many other hospitals around where she could have gotten treated. She also had no money, and Hopkins was a charity hospital. So she was in the public wards. There are studies that have looked at how segregation affected health care delivery (Skloot 39). Henrietta received standard care, however the doctors were not quick to treat her every need. Henrietta was sent home multiple times, eventually she was in so much pain that she refused to leave. One question derived from this is that if Henrietta had been white, would the doctors have taken better care of her? It is possible that they would of found the cancer quicker, or at least treated her for something faster. Sadly, by the time the doctors realized her illness, the cancer had spread too much and she could not be saved. Throughout history, African-American’s and other minority groups have been mistreated and undervalued. If white supremacy had not been an issue Henrietta, and probably hundreds of others could have been