Who has the right to your body? This question was raised by author and science writer Rebecca Skloot at her talk Monday night at the Kohl Center.
Skloot’s presentation was the highlight of this years UW-Madison’s Go Big Read program which featured her first book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.” More than 5,000 UW students read the book, which tells the story of the person and family behind the first ever immortal human cell line, HeLa cells.
“My goal was to put a face on human biological research” Skloot said.
Very little was known about Henrietta Lacks, the woman from whom the worlds most famous and widely used cells were taken. Her cells were harvested without her or her family's knowledge when she checked into John Hopkin's then "colored only" ward for cervical cancer back in 1951.
Very little was known about Henrietta Lacks, the woman from whom the worlds most famous and widely used cells were taken. Her cells were harvested without her or her family's knowledge when she checked into John Hopkin's then "colored only" ward for cervical cancer back in 1951.
HeLa cells have been essential to science. They were the first ever cloned and the first to be genetically mapped. The cells helped create the polio vaccine, went up into space and have been used in countless other research experiments, all without the knowledge or consent of the Lacks family.
The issue of informed consent for tissue research is only one of many raised in Skloot’s book,
“I don’t take a stand on issues, just throw them out and say discuss.” She has spent much of the past four months traveling around to speak with students, scientist and the public about this issue.
“I don’t take a stand on issues, just throw them out and say discuss.” She has spent much of the past four months traveling around to speak with students, scientist and the public about this issue.
Tissue research has now become an interracial and important part of science. Currently, researchers have the ability to study biological samples patients supply, a blood test for example, without the consent of that patient. Many worry that requiring informed consent for every biological sample with bring tissue research to a screeching halt. With cell lines like HeLa worth millions of dollars and the sometimes controversial nature of tissue research, scientist are worried people will want to play a role in how their tissue is used.
“People don’t really want one,” Skloot said, “Most of the people I have talked to say if they just asked us we would of said, yes.”
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