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HeLa, Henrietta Lacks, and BioethicsDay 1: Reference MaterialRead through the following information with your table groups. Write your reactions to the quotes/definition and create questions that you would like to discuss on day 2 in the seminar. Make note of important phrases or quotes that you could use in the discussion.Quotes from The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot:Henrietta signed a consent form that said, “I hereby give consent to the staff of The Johns Hopkins Hospital to perform any operative procedures and under any anaesthetic either local or general that they may deem necessary in the proper surgical care and treatment of: ________” (page 31).Deborah says, “but I always have thought it was strange, if our mothers cells done so much for medicine, how come her family can’t afford to see no doctors? Don’t make no sense” (page 9).“Henrietta’s were different: they reproduced an entire generation every twenty-four hours, and they never stopped. They became the first immortal human cells ever grown in a laboratory.”“Day wouldn’t have understood the concept of immortal cells or HLA markers coming from anyone, accent or not—he’d only gone to school for four years of his life, and he’d never studied science. The only kind of cell he’d heard of was the kind Zakariyya was living in out at Hagerstown. So he did what he’d always done when he didn’t understand something a doctor said: he nodded and said yes.”“The American Type Culture Collection—a nonprofit whose funds go mainly toward maintaining and providing pure cultures for science—has been selling HeLa since the sixties. When this book went to press, their price per vial was $256. The ATCC won’t reveal how much money it brings in from HeLa sales each year, but since HeLa is one of the most popular cell lines in the world, that number is surely significant.”“I’ve tried to imagine how she’d feel knowing that her cells went up in the first space missions to see what would happen to human cells in zero gravity, or that they helped with some of the most important advances in medicine: the polio vaccine, chemotherapy, cloning, gene mapping, in vitro fertilization. I’m pretty sure that she—like most of us—would be shocked to hear that there are trillions more of her cells growing in laboratories now than there ever were in her body.”"'I don't want to cause problems for science,' Sonny told me as this book went to press. 'Dale wouldn't want that. ?And besides, I'm proud of my mother and what she done for science. ?I just hope Hopkins and some of the other folks who benefited off her cells will do something to honor her and make right with the family" (328)“The debate over the commercialization of human biological materials always comes back to one fundamental point: like it or not, we live in a market-driven society, and science is part of that market.”“Though no law or code of ethics required doctors to ask permission before taking tissue from a living patient, the law made it very clear that performing an autopsy or removing tissue from the dead without permission was illegal.” (89)Other Helpful Information and DefinitionsDoctors agree to the Hippocratic Oath the day they are allowed to start practicing medicine. Part of the oath states Primum Non Nocere which is Latin for ‘first do no harm.’ A guiding principle for physicians that, whatever the intervention or procedure, the patient’s well-being is the primary consideration.Definition of Bioethics: The study of typically controversial ethics brought about by advances in biology and medicine. It is also moral discernment as it relates to medical policy, practice, and research.Define what the term “for the greater good” means to science, medicine, and your life. Day 2: Socratic Seminar A Socratic seminar is a method of reflecting and creating a deeper understanding of various topics using group dialogue. Dialogue is different from discussion or debates because “one submits their best thinking, knowing that other peoples’ reflections will help improve it rather than destroy it.”During this dialogue there are some rules that must be followed to ensure that your classmates feel supported in their line of thinking and are encouraged to share their opinions. Talk to one another, not Ms. Fuller (she isn’t participating ).When appropriate, refer to text or notes to support your thoughts. Ask questions if you do not understand what another person is saying or to clarify that you heard them correctly. Pay attention to how much “airtime” you are taking. Allow others to join the conversation. You do not need to raise your hand to speak, this is a conversation.Don’t interrupt. Do not put down the ideas of another student, even if you do not agree with them. State an alternate idea or ask a follow-up question. Invite those who have not spoken into the conversation. If you are in the circle, you are asked to have a conversation with your classmates relating to the prompts provided by Ms. Fuller. You may use your notes or the text in this packet to support your opinions and thought process. If you are in the outer circle, you must:Write down three comments or questions that you thought during the conversation that you would like to talk about when it is your turn in the circle.Note on how the process of the seminar is working – time, people speaking, participation. ................
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