THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF

HENRIETTA LACKS THEMES

Dr. Roz Iasillo
Trinity High School
River Forest, IL
 THEMES IN THE BOOK
• Science Suffering
• Morality & Ethics The Supernatural
• Race Communication
• Poverty
• Family
• Immortality
 SCIENCE
Questions About Science
• What kinds of tensions exist between the scientific community and the mainstream
community in this work?
• In what ways do the needs of the research community infringe on the rights of the general
public? Are there any instances in which this isn't the case?
• What innovations are necessary for the successful culture of HeLa cells? Who makes them?
• What role do HeLa cells play in scientific experimentation?
Think on This
• HeLa's biggest contributions weren't the scientific advances, but the eventual changes in
human subjects research: consideration of privacy and consent.
 MORALITY & ETHICS
Questions About Morality & Ethics
• What ethical issues are at stake in the case of Henrietta Lacks and HeLa cells?
• Why were the HeLa researchers worried about being required to get informed consent?
• The Declaration of Helsinki says, among other things, that physicians must protect the "right to
self-determination" of human research subjects. What does this mean? How do you think this might
apply in discussions of Henrietta Lacks' case today?
• Why did the researchers violate Henrietta's privacy by publishing her name?
Think About This
• Deborah Lacks' main concern is to understand her mother's role in scientific research and to make
sure she was recognized for her role in it—not to claim her share of profits from HeLa cells.
• The regulation of experimentation on human subjects was necessary because the scientific and
medical community was not capable of monitoring the actions of researchers on its own.
 RACE
Questions About Race
• How would you characterize the relationship between the medical community and the African
American community in this book?
• How does language contribute to the friction between the world of research and the Lacks family?
• In what ways do cultural beliefs and expectations make the HeLa story difficult for the Lacks
family to accept?
• In what ways does the scientific community institutionalize discriminatory behavior? In other
words, how do they make it part of the working structure of their community?
Think About This
• Hopkins might have respected Henrietta's autonomy more if she was white.
• Black people bore the brunt of unethical medical research.
 POVERTY
Questions About Poverty
• How does poverty affect the Lacks family's ability to obtain justice for their mother?
• In what ways does a lack of education affect Deborah and her family?
• How does racial inequality specifically affect Henrietta and her family?
• In what ways does poverty make the Lacks family more vulnerable to exploitation?
Think About This
• Although John Moore loses his lawsuit for control over his biological materials, it points up the
socio-economic differences that make it impossible for the Lackses to take the same action on
behalf of Henrietta.
• Poverty plus racism makes it doubly hard to pull yourself up financially.
 FAMILY
Questions About Family
• How does the Lacks family learn of Henrietta's legacy as HeLa cells?
• What is the most important thing for Deborah as she begins to learn about HeLa cells? What's the
real purpose of her quest?
• What is Skloot's tone toward the Lacks family? How does she deal with some of the more difficult
details about the family's past?
• How do Deborah and Zakariyya begin to make peace with Henrietta's fate? What, if anything, makes
the difficult situation easier for them?
Think About This
• The Lacks family seems to have suffered more than most.
• The Lacks family story of poverty and its consequences was an all too common one back in
Henrietta's day.
 IMMORTALITY
Questions About Immortality
• What does it mean to be immortal? Is it different for the various players in Henrietta's story?
• Does the desire for an immortal cell line really have anything to do with humanity's quest for
immortality?
• In what ways is Henrietta's "immortality" helpful for her family? In what ways harmful?
• How does the persistence and strength of HeLa cells help researchers? How does it make their
lives more difficult?
Think About This
• Henrietta herself really is alive as long as her cells are alive.
• The quest for immortality in this story is not an equal opportunity pursuit: marginalized groups
may be part of the process, but don't enjoy the benefits of medical advances.