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Old 01-27-2013, 09:19 AM
  #77  
hannajo
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Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Brooklyn, NY
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I almost always read non-fiction. I just finished "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot. It's the true story of a black woman who was treated for cancer at Johns Hopkins in the 50's (I think cervical cancer). They gave her treatment, but she unfortunately died. During the course of her treatment, they extracted some cells from her tumor and they continued to grow in the lab. These cells have been continuously growing in labs all over the world since then. And they have been used very much in medical research. The author touches on many moral issues including racism, biomedical ethics, family dynamics of Henrietta and her decedents, medical research, who should be compensated for medical advances, among others. I'm not super-sciency, but the author did a good job of relaying some complex things in an understandable way. I would recommend it.
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