Henrietta Lacks Reading Comprehension
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Henrietta Lacks Reading Comprehension
Henrietta Lacks and the HeLa Cells
In 1951, Henrietta Lacks received treatment for cervical cancer at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. During her care, doctors collected a sample of her tumor. They did not ask her permission to use the sample for research. At that time, it was common for hospitals to use leftover tissue in research without asking patients, but the practice raises important questions about consent and respect. Scientists tried to grow Henrietta’s cells in the laboratory. Unlike most human cells they had studied, hers continued to grow and divide. Researchers named the cell line HeLa, using the first two letters of her first and last names. HeLa cells could be shared with laboratories and studied over long periods, making them useful for experiments that needed many consistent cells. HeLa cells contributed to many areas of research. Scientists used them to test vaccines, including work that helped researchers evaluate the polio vaccine. They also studied how cells respond to infections, medicines, and radiation. HeLa cells became an important research tool around the world. Their use supported scientific discoveries, but the cells came from a person whose permission had not been sought. Henrietta died in 1951. For years, her family did not know that her cells were being widely used. When they later learned about HeLa, they faced unfamiliar scientific information and difficult questions about privacy, recognition, and who should benefit from medical research. The family also had concerns about the release of genetic information connected to Henrietta. Henrietta Lacks’s story is often discussed in bioethics—the study of moral questions in medicine and science. It reminds researchers to communicate clearly, protect personal information, and consider how people can make informed choices about their tissues and data. The story also asks who is included in scientific progress and how the contributions of patients and families should be acknowledged. Medical discoveries can help many people, while still requiring care, fairness, and respect for the people behind them.
Check your understanding
Answer each question. Use the passage to support your responses.
- It was the name of the laboratory where the cells were grown.
- It used the first two letters of Henrietta’s first and last names.
- It was short for a vaccine the cells helped test.
- It was the name Henrietta chose for the cells.
- A person’s informed agreement to something being done
- A scientist’s explanation of a laboratory result
- A hospital’s permission to treat an illness
- A family’s decision about which medicine to use
3 printable pages
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