Nobody knows if the reporter got it wrong or if the person who provided the name to the reporter got it wrong. Henrietta’s name was first botched in a Minneapolis Star article in 1953 when it was reported as Henrietta Lakes. We need more careful journalists and more communicative scientists, and we need to get them talking to each other, and we need to get their conversations in front of an engaged and thinking public. Some of it is the fault of the readers, who don’t demand better work. Some of it is the fault of the scientists. Some of it is the fault of the journalists. When it comes to science journalism, and frankly even science education, there is a lot of misinformation out there.
“No, it was Henrietta Lacks, although Helen Lane was the name I was taught at one time as well.” My colleague turned to me questioningly, knowing I was reading the book. Her name was Helen Lane, right? Even my wife said that is what she learned in school.” Who was the scientist in Texas? What was the wrong liquid? How long did it take for the scientist to realize he had launched the entire field of cytogenetics with his mistake? Skloot, no fair teasing a geneticist reader like that. Rebecca Skloot, T he Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks The chromosomes inside the cells swelled and spread out, and for the first time, scientists could see each of them clearly. Then, in 1953, a geneticist in Texas accidentally mixed the wrong liquid with HeLa and a few other cells, and it turned out to be a fortunate mistake. Instead, here is my reaction to the book “journaled” as I read-my thoughts and questions as a scientist, a writer, a woman, a mother, a daughter, and a member of the human race. These blog entries will not attempt to be a review of Skloot’s book more experienced book critics have done that and done it well. At that time there was virtually no acknowledgment of the fact that these cells, a staple of cell biology research and teaching, originally came from a person, a mother, a wife, a daughter. I began my journey, guided by the able pen of Skloot, through the life of Henrietta Lacks and the incredible story of her tumor cells, first introduced to me as HeLa cells when I was a college student. So, when I drove home and saw the boot prints in the snow leading to the front porch, I knew the awaited tome had finally arrived. Ever since reading the first reviews of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, I have been itching to read this book for myself.
It’s been a while since I have pre-ordered a book and waited expectantly for its arrival.
0 kommentar(er)
