PCC Reads Book Report for BI 102
An option for your lecture project is to read the book chosen for PCC Reads this year. Instructors across the
district have committed to invite their students to participate in projects related to this book.
All projects must be typed and single-spaced, font no larger than 12, with margins no greater than one
inch on all sides. Handwritten will not be accepted. All projects are due at the lecture on the due date
specified in the schedule; late projects will be marked down 5% for each day late, unless prior agreement is
made.
Question/Answer Report
You are assigned a report on the book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”. The book describes the true
story of a poor African American woman named Henrietta Lacks who developed cancer. During treatment,
cells were taken without her knowledge. These cells had special properties that caused them to become
one of the most important tools in medicine. Her cells have made millions of dollars for the companies that
use them, yet Henrietta’s family continued to live in poverty with no knowledge of the contribution
Henrietta made
Type each of the following three questions/reflections at the top of a separate page of paper and then
answer it, with the answer being one page in length, single-spaced, with margins no greater than one inch
on all sides. Answers should be thoughtful and well written, using full sentences.
1) Reflect on the importance of HeLa cells to modern medicine. Include in your discussion what
characteristic(s) of HeLa cells made them so useful to medical science (what is an ‘immortal’ cell line and
what makes those cells immortal) and the role of HeLa cells in polio vaccine trials, the study of viruses, and
to the field of genetics.
2) Reflect on how the book presents the issues of medical ethics. Include explanation of theTuskegee
Syphilis Study and the Mississippi Appendectomiesand what they suggest about the history of African
Americans and medicine. Also discuss the experiments that Southham developed to test his hypotheses
about HeLa and how he justified his decision to inject HeLa cells into patients without their knowledge or
consent. Describe the Nuremberg Code and the events that led to it being developed. How did the action
against Southam and Mandel lead to the development of Informed consent forms as a standard medical
practice?
3) Explain the following biological concepts as they are presented in the book.
a. What is mitosis and what happens when there is a mistake during the process of mitosis?
b. How are different types of cancer categorized?
c. Summarize the main obstacles Gey and his assistants faced in their effort to grow cells.
d. Paraphrase the explanation of how a virus reproduces found on page 97. Why did the fact that HeLa
cells are malignant make them particularly useful in the study of viruses?
e. Why did scientists want to be able to clone cells for research?
f. Why did scientists want to fuse human and animal cells?