Term
| What is "benevolent deception" and why did doctors believe in it at the time of Henrietta's treatment? |
|
Definition
| Benevolent deception would do more harm to stress patients out by telling them the full details of their problem |
|
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Term
| When did doctors finally realize that Henrietta's cancer had returned? |
|
Definition
| It was not until 2 months later: Henrietta kept saying something was wrong, but the doctors did not find anything. Until she couldn't urinate, something was wrong. |
|
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Term
| What various medicines and methods did the doctors use to ease her pain? |
|
Definition
| Catheter to empty her bladder, took x-rays and radiation and transfusions. Morphine did not help. Doctors injected alcohol into her spine. If she is a white woman, she would be treated earlier. |
|
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Term
| Describe Henrietta's medical condition in September of 1951. Where does the title of this chapter come from? |
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Definition
| She was tied down, and she screamed like devil. No-one have seen the cancer before. Family thought the devil spirit was in her. |
|
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Term
| What was the condition of Henrietta's body (especially internally) during the autopsy? |
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Definition
| Kidney, bladder, ovaries were large tumors, and her body was almost full of white pearls. She was frozen after removing from the fridge. |
|
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Term
| Why did doctors need permission to take samples from Henrietta's body after she had died? |
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Definition
| It was illegal to take tissue from a dead person, and it was legal to take tissue from a living person. If person is alive, there is a reason to take tissues to keep the patient alive. No need for a tissue from a dead person but the researchers need a permission. |
|
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Term
| Two people react to seeing Henrietta's painted toenails. Who are they? What are their reactions? |
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Definition
Mary, lab assistant, visualized that Henrietta was painting them when she was alive as a human being.
Sadie, her cousin, thought Henrietta prefer to die than get her toenails chipped. |
|
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Term
| Why were the Hela cells exactly what polio researchers needed? (Be specific) |
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Definition
| They produced quickly, they were suspension culture and could be mass produced. |
|
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Term
| What are the advantages of being able to freeze the HeLa cells without harming them? |
|
Definition
| They could freeze the cells, ship them worldwide. pause the cells at the different stages of growth. |
|
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Term
| What kind of business did Sam reader develop? Why was this business so important for cell researchers? |
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Definition
| HeLa factory: made media, grew cells and shipped worldwide. The start of supply of media and the beginning of biotech firms and expansion of the cell-based scientific research. |
|
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Term
| What was Dr. Gey's reaction to the enormous scientific interest in the HeLa cells? |
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Definition
| Hounded with questions, pressured to publish papers, and annoyed that people want to know about Hela cells and wanted to restrict distribution/use of HeLa cells to track. |
|
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Term
| What kinds of research did Rebecca Skloot do while writing the book? Are there examples you can think of where she created purposeful relationships with people in order to obtain accurate information about Henrietta and her story? |
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Definition
| Family interview, legal information, medical records. Contact family through Dr. Pastillo and have strong ties with family to get information with their gained trust. |
|
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Term
| Skloot says that there are "issues regarding science, ethics, race and class" in her book and she will "leave it for the scholars and experts in the field to address". What are some of these ethical issues? |
|
Definition
| family's rights, consent form, lack of information from the doctors about what was being done with the cells. Money, Racism, Inaccurate information on Henrietta's diagnosis, inaccurate information to media's release and confidential medical records release. |
|
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Term
| How were black patients treated at John Hopkins? How do you feel about the differences between the treatment of white and black patients during this era? Can you give examples where this issue comes up while Henrietta is being treated? |
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Definition
| Segregation in Hopkins, a lot of hospitals did not treat black people, Doctors did not return patients' belongings. A lot of people can't read and sign the consent. |
|
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Term
| What is cervical carcinoma in situ? How is it different from invasive cervical carcinoma? |
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Definition
| Carcinoma in situ: stays its place of origin. Surface and was not a large problem. Invasive carcinoma was deeper and required treatment. |
|
|
Term
| What was Dr. Richard Telinde's new theory about cervical carcinoma in situ? |
|
Definition
| Carcinoma in situ can cause invasive cervical carcinoma. |
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Term
| Who is George Gey? Why did he attempt to grow Henrietta's cells? |
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Definition
| George Gey attempted to grow first immortal human cell line. He regularly gets tissues from people including Henrietta. He put the tissue in the media to test the growth and lab instruments and techniques. |
|
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Term
| How did doctors treat Henrietta's invasive cancer and how did she respond to the treatment? |
|
Definition
| Doctors treated Henrietta with two doses of radium to remove the tumor. Tumor died off and doctors gave her a radiation treatments to char her stomach and make her infertile. |
|
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Term
| Describe Dr. Gey's attempts at making the perfect medium for growing cells in culture? |
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Definition
| He invented a few machines like the roller drum, he used chicken's blood, umbilical cord blood and other things that he thought wold be good for cells. |
|
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Term
| What contributions did Mary Kubicek and Margaret Gey make in the developments that led to the HeLa cells? |
|
Definition
| Mary encouraged doctors to find the cure for cancer. Her husband died from cancer. She was rich and started the organization. Margaret was the one who cultured things in the lab, and was known for having a steady hand. Margaret started the lab procedures and the chicken bleeding technique. |
|
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Term
| Describe George Gey's methods for shipping HeLa cells around the world in the early days? |
|
Definition
| He sent the cells via plane in a few drops of medium, incubated at someone's shirt pocket and put them in the ice box if they are in cargo boxes. |
|
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Term
| Who is Alexis Carrel? What did he claim to accomplish? |
|
Definition
| Carrel: a french surgeon who grew immortal chicken heart, got Nobel Prize for that, and chicken heart was not immortal but contaminated. |
|
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Term
| Can you think of any other scientific breakthroughs that frighten the public today? Which ones? Why? |
|
Definition
| When it came out, cells were highly celebrated as the solution to all diseases and human problems. After Carrel, public opinion dropped and it became something like a bad science fiction film, with the blob that will take over the world and cross-species mutants and cloned people. |
|
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Term
| Do you think the Lacks family is owed money for the sale of the HeLa cells and should be financially compensated? What do you think is more important- a person's right over his or her own tissue or contributed to science and research for the benefit of all humankind? |
|
Definition
Points of Researchers:
- if everyone gets something for their tissue, researchers has nothing and hold scientific community hostage
-doctor didn't make any money from cells
- money go to salary, media, regeants and not for profit.
- once tissue is removed from body, it doesn't belong to the body anymore like garbage: people go through.
- ethically wrong to release her name.
Points of the families
- Supreme Court: rules human tissue- consent or compensation must be given to family or donor.
- Henrietta signed consent for research not sell.
- Emotional distress against family: didn't get any recognition for 20 years.
- Gey got fame not money,
- Getting tumor out: biopsy, tissue for Gey for research not trash. |
|
|
Term
| When Dr. David Golde failed to tell Mr. Moore about the financial value of his cells, do you think that the doctor behaved unethically, and the court should have ruled against him? Or does Dr. Golde have the right to a cell line that was created via his "inventive effort"? 1984 Moore vs. Golde and UCLA. |
|
Definition
Mo cell line: hairy cell leukemia: overabundance of B-cells spleen (was removed with 14 lbs) and Golde developed it.
Moore signed the consent for removing spleen. Golde didn't tell Moore that he used his cells for research or found it as protein GM-CSF and patented it in 1984.
Moore:
- consent form said spleen will be cremated.
- Moore had to go back to same doctor for more tests without knowing what they were for.
- important for patients to know what doctors will do with their tissues. Patients have a right to say yes or no to develop biological weapons
Golde:
- conversion is treating one's goods as one's own- or purposefully claiming that the property was his own.
-Tissues are given willingly, Moore does not have a claim to conversion.
-Moores abandoned the cells, and they were transformed and a product of Golde's that did not belong to Moore anymore.
-cells were not instantly ready to be sold or make money, it took time to make profits.
- Not informed consent |
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Term
| The book is filled with stories of people used as research subjects, sometimes without their knowledge, sometimes with ill-informed consent, and sometimes because of their ability to understand (patients with mental illness) or resist (prisoners). Is it ethical to do research on prisoners if they consent? |
|
Definition
History: Tuskegee syphilis (1932) public health service to study natural history of syphilis (how it killed from infection to death) on black men without informed consent. Black men got free medical exams, free meals and burial insurance. THey knew penicillin killed syphilis but not treat black men.
Dr. Southam injected a woman with leukemia HeLa cells to test the immune system. He injected 600 patients including prisoners. He did not inform patients to avoid their "unnecessary" fears.
Doctor/Researcher:
- easier to get consent from prisoners: mental illness.
- Prisoners don't have best health care, and have limited privacy
- Prisoners have guilt and owe back so they accepted the experiments to help other people's lives.
- most consent forms are college level reading not many prisoners understand as long as they sign consent: won't be a problem.
- federal definition of a prisoner is very strict.
Patients:
- feel "forced and pressure" from the authority
- Crimes vary: not everyone is a murder or rapist. It could be a petty theft.
- Need protection of those prisoners and education on side effects and what's going on in the treatment
- prisons make lots of money from allowing research to occur in the prison. |
|
|
Term
| Gene patents are the point of great concern in the debate over ownership of human biological materials, and how that ownership might interfere with science (I.e. Myriad Genetics and BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes). What are your thoughts about research and patents pertaining to DNA and genetic manipulation? |
|
Definition
History: ~20% of human genes have patents on them. BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes: patented by Myriad Genetics. THose genes are used to test different genetics.
Pharmaceutical company:
- discovery of connection between gene and cancer is a feat of human ingenuity
- Working on genes: a mining claim.
- patents are about isolating gene. not gene itself. Other companies use different isolation technique: don't have to go through first company.
- Patent: you can say what's done with it: don't own gene and deny people ownership. Company own the ability to manipulate gene and use it as the way they work on it.
Academic researchers: Everyone has genes, and they own part of it. Court said you can't own a gene itself but frame shift mutation.
- research aims to eliminate cancer via vaccine or cure, it won't help a cure, rather a quick fix and profit.
- Companies inhibit research, and not all researchers can afford to pay off the company.
- Companies can buy the rights to do something and then patent it without any work to get there. |
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Term
|
Definition
- Continuous or uncontrolled growth of cells
- an umbrella term covering a variety of conditions characterized by unscheduled and uncontrolled cel proliferation. |
|
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Term
|
Definition
abnormal proliferation of cells.
- if confined to the original area, it's benign
- if it invades surrounding tissues or the entire body, it's malignant. |
|
|
Term
| Normal cell growth is either: |
|
Definition
- Controlled
- Repaired
- If it can't be repaired, the cell undergoes apoptosis. |
|
|
Term
| Unscheduled and uncontrolled cell proliferation? |
|
Definition
- Almost any mammalian organ can undergo transformation and give rise to a bewildering array of clinical outcomes.
- Caused of cancer can be genetic predisposition, environmental influences, infectious agents and aging.
- Transformation from normal to cancer cells can be done by derailing a wide spectrum of regulatory downstream effector pathways.
- Complexity has hampered therapies. It's very difficult to treat universally, due to the specificity of the microenvironments where the cancer is. |
|
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Term
| What is the percent of carcinoma in cancers? |
|
Definition
|
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Term
|
Definition
| begins in skin or tissue that covers internal organs |
|
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Term
|
Definition
| - rare- begin in connective tissue (cartilage, fat, muscle, blood vessels, bone) |
|
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Term
|
Definition
| 8% of cancer: "liquid tumors"- start in blood forming cells and immune system. |
|
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Term
| Central nervous system cancers |
|
Definition
| benign in brain or spinal cord |
|
|
Term
| Properties of cancer cells |
|
Definition
- cells usually have contact inhibition
- cancer cells have lack of inhibition: clump and grow loosely adherent on top of each other.
- grow for freaking-ever
- new enzymes, and changes in cell structure
- no need for positive growth factors
- telomerase is active, allowing an unlimited number of divsions- shortening of telomeres does not occur.
- continue to divide even with large amounts of DNA damage, because checkpoints are not used. |
|
|
Term
| What causes abnormal growth? |
|
Definition
- mutations in proteins that code for genes that regulate cell divsion: oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes. Ex. p53.
- can end in abnormal replication of chromosomes: switched sections, extra or missing chromosomes or duplicated chromosomes (aneuploidy)
- excessive addition of methyl groups in genes that are involved in cell cycle, DNA repair and apoptosis.
- more and more mutation occurs, with no repair, causes more abnormalities in cell and daughter cells. |
|
|
Term
| How many chromosomes HeLa has? |
|
Definition
| 82 chromosomes (on average): 4 copies of chromosomes 12, and 3 copies of chromosomes 6,8 and 17. Standard ones: genome is remarkably stable. Many mutations detected: in tumor. |
|
|
Term
| Known genes that are associated with cancer |
|
Definition
- BRCA1 and BRCA2 for breast cancer
- P53 targeted by viruses
- RB regulates cell cycle |
|
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Term
|
Definition
| - code for proteins that stimulate cell division. |
|
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Term
|
Definition
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| take the break away or step on the gas pedal to speed up the cycle. |
|
|
Term
| Problems of tumor cell cultures |
|
Definition
- remove tumor cell cultures from normal connective tissue cells to keep them alive.
- variation among and within samples of tumor tissue. Techniques have to be specialized.
- tumors grow in vivo because of the microenvironment of the body.
- lack of the environment, they die in culture.
- Nutritional requirements: different from normal cells. Different media: less serum is required.
- Remove stroma, deprive tumor cells of matrix, nutrients, or signaling that tumors cells are dependent on.
- Dilution of tumor cells may cause removal of autocrine growth factors and nutrients for the cell.
Normal cells are capable of expressing growth suppressors and creating senescene genes, and may respond differently from a cell in which one or more of the genes are inactive or mutated. |
|
|
Term
| Cells derived from a malignant tumor |
|
Definition
| - transformed with increased growth rate, reduced anchorage dependence, aneuploidy and immortalization. |
|
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Term
| Stem Cell Origin of Cancer |
|
Definition
| a bulk of cells in a tumor might have a limited life span. a few cells have an ability for continuous growth. Cancer stem cell can be targeted to be easier to control cancers. Evidence: malignant stem cells in breast, prostrate and some brain cancers. |
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|
Term
| Why did authors of the two different articles want to include Henrietta's name in the articles? What was Gey's position on releasing Henrietta's name? |
|
Definition
| Authors wanted to make their stories interesting to readers with Henrietta's name. Audience will understand where the cells came from. Gey let the media to get off the trail by using pseudonym. |
|
|
Term
| What kinds of experiments did Dr. Chester Southam perform with HeLa cells? What did he learn through his research? Would it be considered unethical today? |
|
Definition
| Dr. Southam gave a woman with leukemia, other patients and healthy prisoners the shots with saline solution and HeLa cell culture. Woman's forearm swelled, prisoners' immune system increased to reject cancerous cells. He did not inform patients about the experiment. |
|
|
Term
| What happened at the war tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany? What is the "Nuremberg Code"? |
|
Definition
| 7 Nazi doctors were pentalized and killed because they did unthinkable research on Jewish victims such as sewing siblings together to become Siamese and dissecting living people to study anatomy and organs. Nuremberg Code is to control the human experimentation globally except American doctors. It focuses on dictators and barbarians. |
|
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Term
| What happened to Dr. Southam as a result of his research practices and what did the NIH do in response to the Southam case? |
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Definition
| Dr. Southam's medical license was suspended for a year and then went through probation. He became American Association for Cancer Research president and NIH funded his reserach and investigated to get consent for humans' rights and involvement in all studies. |
|
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Term
| This chapter is, in part, about the public's fears about a particular kind of scientific research. What kind of research? What was the public afraid of? |
|
Definition
| French researchers found sex cells that led to British researchers' discovery of human-mouse hybrids and human gene mapping. Public got scared because the scientists tried to create monsters (half human (HeLa cells)and half mouse): strangest hybrid |
|
|
Term
| Describe George Hyatt's experiment with skin cells. What was he trying to discover in his test? |
|
Definition
| Hyatt cultured HeLa cells, smeared in young guy's wound on arm to see if new skin layer grows. If so, skin transplant will occur. Cells turned out cancerous, and he removed the cells. |
|
|
Term
| What is cell sex or somatic cell fusion? Who discovered it and why was the discovery of this phenomenon so important for later research? |
|
Definition
| Somatic cell fusion: genetic material from two cells together (sperm meets an egg). French researchers discovered the sex cell, and it is important to study gene traits, inheritance and potential hybrid cells. |
|
|
Term
| What did Stanley Gartler reveal at the Second Decennial Review Conference on Cell Tissue and Organ Culture? Why was this devastating news for the scientists who heard this talk? |
|
Definition
| Gartler revealed that HeLa cells are contaminants. Scientists tried to keep their cell cultures viral and bacterial free. They felt that they grew the contaminants and wasted million dollars on those. |
|
|
Term
| What specific qualities in HeLa cells allowed them to contaminate other cell cultures so easily? |
|
Definition
| HeLa cells can float through air on dust particles, travel from one culture to next by unwashed hands, used pipettes, used researchers' lab coats and shoes or through ventilation. |
|
|
Term
| How did the other scientists react to Gartler's revelations? Give specific examples. |
|
Definition
| Robert Stevenson, American Type Culture Collection, decided to send top tissue culturists to test cells for G6PD-A gene marker to see if it spreads out the problem. Most scientists refused to believe Gartler, and continued to work on HeLa cells. Stevenson developed genetic tests to find Henrietta's family. |
|
|
Term
| What is G6PD-A? Why was it important in confirming what Gartler had told the audience? |
|
Definition
A rare genetic marker, glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase, rarely in black people, most in white people: Gartler.
G6PD-A found in HeLa cells and it should be contaminated because this marker is in "only" white people. |
|
|
Term
| How and when was Henrietta's name released to the general public? |
|
Definition
| John Hopkins colleagues including Howard Jones wrote about HeLa cell line's history and found misdiagnosis through Henrietta's medical records and wrote about it in 1970 after Gey's death and three weeks before Nixon signed National Cancer Act and War on Cancer. |
|
|
Term
| What was the National Cancer Act and what was its goal? What happened as a result of the NCA? |
|
Definition
| NCA: law that contributes to research on cancer for 3 years and discovery the cancer cure within 5 years. Russians thought they found cancer virus from cancer Russian patients, but they are HeLa cells. HeLa cells were still thought as contaminants and invaded other cells. |
|
|
Term
| What is learned in this chapter about the "HeLa Bomb" assertions made by Stanley Gartler? |
|
Definition
Walter Nelson-Rees, a chromosome expert, published "HeLa Hit Lists" to mention other researchers' cells had been contaminated by HeLa cells without informing other researchers.
Research: "serious confusion," "misguided research," and "wasted million dollars." |
|
|
Term
| HeLa cells have been sold for large profits for many years. Who profited from the HeLa cells? George Gey? John Hopkins? |
|
Definition
| Gey and Hopkins did not make any profits. Many profited cell banks and biotech companies made profits from HeLa cells. Invitrogen and BioWhittaker (two largest biotech companies) started selling their cells. |
|
|
Term
| Who is John Moore? What kind of illness did Moore have? What were his conditions? |
|
Definition
| John Moore: a surveyor on Alaska Pipeline and became an oyster salesman in Seattle. He suffered from hairy-cell leukemia: rare and deadly cancer on his spleen with malignant blood cells. His gums bled, abdomen swelled and his body was all bruised. |
|
|
Term
| What did David Golde do for John Moore? How did he plan to profit from his work and John Moore? |
|
Definition
| Golde removed Moore's spleen and took his bone marrow, blood and semen. Golde developed Mo cell line and filed for a patnet on Moore's cells and valuable proteins that cells have produced. |
|
|
Term
| Who is Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty? What kind of work did he do and what legal precedent was set by the Chakrabarty case? |
|
Definition
| Chakrabarty: a scientist that created a bacterium genetically engineered to consume oil and clean up oil spill for GE company. He applied for a patent that no living organism should be an invention. His case opened up potential patents for living things. |
|
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Term
| What medical condition did Ted Slavin suffer from? How did he plan to profit from his medical condition? |
|
Definition
| Ted suffered from hemophilia and was exposed to hepatitis B virus all the time. Ted offered a virologist to take unlimited blood samples from Ted to find the link between hepatitis B virus and liver cancer. |
|
|
Term
| What did Harald zur Hausen discover in 1984? How does this discovery relate to HeLa cells? |
|
Definition
| Hausen found sexually transmitted disease, HPV-18 (Human Papilloma Virus 18) that leads to cervical cancer. HeLa cells were positive for HPV 18. Henrietta had multiple copies of HPV-18 then cervical cancer. |
|
|
Term
| What strange idea did Leigh Van Halen and other scientists propose with regard to the HeLa cells? How did the scientific community react to this idea? |
|
Definition
| Halen: HeLa cells were derived from evolution of human to other species. Scientific community thought it was ridiculous and they were still human cells. |
|
|
Term
| Why was it determined that Henrietta's cells were not subject to the Hayflick limit? |
|
Definition
| Henrietta's cells never stop growing or won't die, and they don't have a growth limit. HeLa cells don't apply to Hayflick limit because Hayflick limit is the number of times of cell division and its ability to die. |
|
|
Term
| Who was Richard Axel and what did he determine about HIV with the use of HeLa cells? |
|
Definition
| Axel, a molecular biologist, injected HeLa cells with HIV. He put the DNA sequences from a blood cell into HeLa cells to see what HIV needs to inject the cells. |
|
|
Term
| What did Jeremy Rifkin believe the experiments Richard Axel was performing on HeLa cells with HIV? |
|
Definition
| Rifkin was concerned because he thought the experiments would dangerously control the DNA, which leads to genetic mutations as "designer babies". |
|
|
Term
| Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 |
|
Definition
| federal law in place to prevent privacy violation that happened to the Lacks family when doctors at Hopkins released Henrietta's name and her medical records. |
|
|
Term
| Is it legal to sell the cells today? |
|
Definition
| No it is illegal, but it is legal to give the tissue away and charge for collecting and processing fees. |
|
|
Term
| Pharmaceutical companies, scientists and universities control what? |
|
Definition
| performing research on genes, resulting therapies and diagnostic test costs. |
|
|
Term
| Is the consent form usable for patients? It is an issue. The financial costs for their tissue were not given on the consent form. |
|
Definition
| Decision is up to any institution to inform the costs or commerical potentials to the patients. Most don't tell. |
|
|
Term
| National Bioethics Advisory Commission (NBAC) |
|
Definition
| federal oversight of tissue research was "inadequate" and "ambiguous". It recommended specific changes that would ensure patients' rights to control how their tissues were used. It skirted the issue "raises a number of concerns," and should be investigated further. |
|
|
Term
| When the organs are removed like tonsillectomy, appendiectomy and etc, what will doctors and hospitals will do? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Biobanks store different organs: skin, testicles, fat, ovaries, and etc. What will do the scientists do with them? |
|
Definition
| They will do testing to develop anything and cures like vaccines, and to see their responses from cosmetics, biological weapons, drugs and radiation. |
|
|
Term
| What is Transfection? Purpose |
|
Definition
to express exogenous DNA or RNA in mammalian cells.
To study function of genes and gene products by enhancing or inhibiting gene expression and produce recombinant proteins. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| transfecting nucleic acids (DNA, RNA, and mRNA) in eukaryotic cells and transfect CHO (Chinese Hamster Ovary) |
|
|
Term
| Beta-Galactosidase gene function |
|
Definition
| a reporter gene in transfection experiments and its enzyme activity and cleaves X-Gal. |
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