I changed my NPR station this evening because I'm mad at my usual one for its schedule changes. They stop All Things Considered at 5:30 now, then hit up Marketplace, and the do up something annoying like The World. Hello! I drive home at 6:30 at night and I want to hear the stinkin' news!
So, I changed to the other one, which has the same annoying schedule, but at least it airs Fresh Air from 6-7. It's not perfect, but I can live with Fresh Air.
Today, Terry Gross is interviewing a woman who wrote a book about the woman whose cancerous cells were the first cultured human cells. She was a poor, black woman who had her cells harvested without her knowledge and consent. Since then, her cells have been used in thousands of scientific experients: really important scientific experiments like the polio vaccine. Companies have made millions off of her cells, and her family has seen nothing. In fact, the family didn't even know her cells were in use for 25 years (or so).
It sounds absolutely amazing. I'm mostly writing this so I have a place I can back and look and remember the title.
So, pick up the The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lax by Rebecca Sclute. (Not sure about the spelling of the last name. I'll try to look it up soon, but it's dinnertime right now. (Notice, I was driving home from work at 6:30.)
(As a side note, the music review is about big star, who I love. A friend of mine introduced me to this 70s rock band that experienced no fame during their lifetime, but now have a cult following. Awesome.)
Earth Sized Planets
2 days ago
3 comments:
Devil's advocate, as someone who's now doing work in the pre-clinical medical industry ...
I don't know the circumstances of this particular case. However, that people want to be compensated for their cell cultures is a huge barrier to actually solving the problem of cancer for good. If it wasn't for the few cultures that are in something akin to 'open domain' and are readily available to use as a baseline across different studies, then we might never solve it.
Just once, I'd love to see someone stand up and say, "Yes, take my cell cultures and use them so that this doesn't happen to anyone else ever again" as opposed to "Hey, where's mah money?"
It's not all about compenstation. Remember, she didn't even KNOW her cells were being cultured. We require informed consent for all psychological studies, so why not medical? We can still take samples and not pay (there is precedent for not paying donors), while still giving people the ability to opt-out of the study.
I think the family felt pretty hurt that no one asked their mother/grandmother if she WANTED to stand up and say, "Yes, take my cells to help solve humanity's problems." The compensation is salt in the wound. Of course, something just feels slimy when a corportation makes billions off of a donor's cells, and the donor and family get nothing -- not even a charity in their name. Once the cells are not in the open domain, shouldn't someone involved in their original production get some sort of cut?
Thanks for the information on that book Since I write a blog on books, I might have to check it out.
Feel free to check out my blog It is devoted all to books
-Maphead (aka Mark from Piehorse)
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