Henrietta Lacks Quiz

Which of the following selections from the article BEST shows that much of modern medical science is the result of Henrietta Lacks' cells?

• In 1951, a scientist at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, created the first immortal human cell line with a tissue sample taken from a young black woman with cervical cancer. Those cells, called HeLa cells, quickly became invaluable to medical research-though their donor remained a mystery for decades.

• They were essential to developing the polio vaccine. They went up in the first space missions to see what would happen to cells in zero gravity. Many scientific landmarks since then have used her cells, including cloning, gene mapping and in vitro fertilization.

• Twenty-five years after Henrietta died, a scientist discovered that many cell cultures thought to be from other tissue types , including breast and prostate cells, were in fact HeLa cells. It turned out that HeLa cells could float on dust particles in the air and travel on unwashed hands and contaminate other cultures.

• For scientists, one of the lessons is that there are human beings behind every biological sample used in the laboratory. So much of science today revolves around using human biological tissue of some kind

Read the following selection from the section "And for the rest of us?"

The real story is much more subtle and complicated. What is very true about science is that there are human beings behind it and sometimes even with the best of intentions things go wrong.

Which of the following conclusions can be drawn from the selection above?

• Henrietta's story shows that scientists have likely misidentified many people's cells throughout the years.

• Henrietta's story shows that researchers did not care about helping people when they studied and tested HeLa cells.

• Henrietta's story shows that cells that scientists collected and studied were obtained illegally.

• Henrietta's story shows that there are ethical complexities to be considered when collecting and growing human cells.

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Why does the author include the following quote in the section "When did her family find out about Henrietta's cells?"

The way he understood the phone call was: "We've got your wife. She's alive in a laboratory. We've been doing research on her for the last 25 years. And now we have to test your kids to see if they have cancer.

• to explain why scientists took Lacks' cells without her permission

• to argue that science has come a long way because of HeLa cells

• to demonstrate the fear and confusion caused by suddenly revealin the study of Lacks' cells to her family

• to prove that scientists were wrong to collect and use HeLa cells for scientific and medical research

Which statement BEST reflects one of Rebecca Skloot's beliefs?

• Without knowing it, Henrietta Lacks made profound and far-reaching contributions to the world of medicine.

• Henrietta Lacks was no more important than many others, whose immortal cells were used to advance the study of medicine.

• The sampling and laboratory cultivation of cells like Henrietta Lacks' is morally questionable and should be banned.

• Henrietta Lacks' family should not be paid money in exchange for scientists' use of HeLa cells in laboratories.