Sorry for the late posting, my excuse is the holiday weekend. I hope you enjoyed yourself I did/am. This week for my post I am publishing two papers I wrote this week. The first is from my English 10 class on controversial scientific discoveries and the second is from the Speech and Debate class. Speech and Debate counts for a English credit and I love writing papers so why not give you more awesomness? The Speech and Debate paper is on a quote for a freedom festival speech.
Enjoy-Kalea
English 10-
My Immortal
It is known as the immortal cell. The cell that helped develop a cure for polio, implemented in more than 11,000 patients. More than 20 tons of this cell have been made, and the discovery of this cell has been quoted as “In 20 years at NIH, I can’t recall a specific circumstance more charged with scientific, societal and ethical challenges than this one” -Francis Collins.The tale of Frankenstein has been a classic for people all over the world. This well known well loved classic also has been the center of debate for controversial scientific discoveries. Among these scientific discoveries is the HeLa cell.The HeLa cell is known as the immortal cell(first cells not to die within a few cell divisions, and survive in vitro). There are a lot of things pertaining to the HeLa cell the rich history of the cell, research the profits made from the cell, the contributions in the medical world the HeLa cell has made, the controversy that the cell has created, and the consolation that family got.
The history of the HeLa cell is very interesting. The HeLa cell was derived from Henrietta Lacks a 31 year old African American mother with cervical cancer. The HeLa was gotten from the first two letters in her first name and last name. After Henrietta had given birth to her 5 child she noticed some problems and got diagnosed with cervical cancer. Henrietta got cancer treatment at John Hopkins Cancer treatment. Treatments were done by inserting tubes of radium in her cervix and sewing them in place. In addition to Henriettas treatments a doctor removed some tissue samples from herv cervical tumor. Henrietta had signed the usual forms consenting to treatment for her cancer, but was not asked for her permission to remove the tissue samples, nor was she informed that it had been done, but this wasn't unusual. At the time tissue removal consent was not required. Henrietta Lacks died 9 months after her diagnosis. A question that you may be asking is what? What made the Henrietta’s cells so amazing.The theory behind these immortal cells is that the cancer, the radium, and Henrietta had the human papilloma Virus(HPV) and syphilis making her cells strong. The background behind the HeLa cell is very interesting and very detailed.
The efforts in the search to save mankind, and the price. The research was The tissue was sent to Dr. Gey in the Tissue Culture Laboratory at Johns Hopkins. Dr. Grey isolated one cell and was able to grow these ‘immortal’ cells. Normal cells die after a few divisions but Henrietta’s cells kept growing. Regular cells in the body go through a stage called cellular senescence which is when the cells age. After many cell divisions the cells DNA becomes unstable and eventually the cell will die. The cell death is known as Programed Cell Death.(PCD) Despite the oddness of a programed death PCD can be very helpful. Too much PCD can be bad and even become cancerous. In a regular lab there is about 50 cell divisions before PCD. Cancer cells don't experience PCD making Henrietta's cells very hardy.For such hardy cells there also is a price. While Dr. Grey did not seek to make money off of HeLa cells his findings on HeLa were published in a medical journal, and Grey got lots of requests for the cells. Grey provided the researchers HeLa cells for free. Today you can get a vile of HeLa cells for 250$. The research and profits made in the discovery of the HeLa cell are a key component in the controversial debate.
The deeds for mankind from the HeLa cells. Considering that over 2 tons of the Hela cell have been made one can imagine that there is many benefits. The HeLa cell helped create a vaccine for polio. The HeLa cells have helped create the entire field of virology. Genetic medicine, and genetic mapping have been greatly helped thanks to the HeLa cell. HeLa cells have been used in helping and studying tuberculosis, HIV, HPV(which there is a vaccine for now), parkinsons research, cancer research, cancer test medications, mouse embryo cells, the process of mapping the genome, and AIDS research. The HeLa cells have even been taken up to space, the cells continued to grow and helped astronauts, discover what space can do to you. In addition to the medical perspective to the HeLa cells there is an economic benefit. HeLa cells have been made into a billion dollar industry on the sole purpose of using these cells to benefit mankind even more.
The focus on the debate is a couple of things. The first thing is the family . The second thing the ethical part on the physician's part.The third main issue in the HeLa cell line debate is the risks and benefits all under the name of science. Henrietta Lacks family was unaware that the cells of Henrietta had been taken until 25 years later. The Lacks Family had not gotten compensation for the cells and for a long time were struggling with medical insurance. The Lacks family also has been asked many times for samples of tissue, blood and other bodily fluids,and the family feels like their privacy has been significantly invaded due to the constant nagging of researchers. Here is my question to you though; is it ok to ask and invade privacy if the medical community may benefit from it? in the recent present physicians have been required for legal and ethical purposes to get consent when taking samples from a patient. However back when Henrietta’s sample was taken it was not require for psycians to get consent from the patient.Do you think that it was within the Dr who got the sample and Dr. Gray's ethical responsibility as a psycian to get consent? The benefits for the HeLa cell have been monstrous, and have greatly helped americans all over with a big variety of medical problems. In the name of Science was the HeLa cell extracts acceptable? Despite the age of the HeLa cells, the debate on the HeLa cells was recently aroused in the last decade when a friend of the Lacks family Rebecca Skloot wrote a book on the HeLa cells called The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks. There are several things on the HeLa cells up for debate how the family was handled, biomedical ethics on the physician's part, and the risks and benefits from the HeLa cells.
There is a solution for some of the debate pertaining to the HeLa cells.The director of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), Francis Collins, is trying to make up for decades of slights. On August 7, 2013 an agreement was made with the Lacks family, and medical professionals in the NIH community. The Henrietta Lacks family must be consulted before any publication of any kind pertaining to the HeLa cells. The Lacks family will also be on the NIH board to approve any use of the HeLa cells for any medical reason (medical research, using the cell line in any studies, medications or publication), the Lacks family will also have a sit down with medical personnel who intend to use the HeLa cell line for a full complete explanation of what will happen. In addition the agreement allows the publication of a US government-funded HeLa genome sequence as well as the re-release of data that were pulled from public view soon after publication in March because of the family’s concerns. While there is much debate concerning the Lacks family and the HeLa cell line there has been some solution to the long ongoing debate.
In conclusion the HeLa cells are known as the immortal cells, they have provided much benefit to the medical research field and to all mankind. These immortal cells came from a African American mother suffering from cervical cancer, HPV, and syphilis. The research that was done was very popular and the physician who discovered these cells did in (my opinion) his humanitarian duty and gave the HeLa cells away for free. The benefits from the HeLa cells helped many people and continue to help people today. The HeLa cell is the primary cell line that helped stop panic in the 1950’s as millions of Americans were stricken with the crippling disease of Polio. Where much is given much is required and the HeLa cells have given much yet were given much debate. Some of the debate was relieved when the Lacks family made an agreement with the NIH. Now back to the relevance to Frankenstein, the HeLa cells were to an extent ‘immortal’, caused much controversy, even scared some people when the first genetic hybrid was created. Like Frankenstein it was done with good intention and was misunderstood for a long time. The HeLa cells are valued and cherished like the classic Novel of Frankenstein. That is the story of the HeLa cells!
Speech and Debate
There is a battle that is known as the bloodiest day in America's History. There is a war where more American soldiers died in this war then both world wars, Vietnam, and Korea combined. This is known as one of the cruelest, bloodiest , saddest wars known, and yet it was the war within our very own nation. The civil war was a war when our nation was divided. Good won however, the cost for the civil war was so great that the president who presided over this war and division said this inspiring quote "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms it will be because we destroyed ourselves." -Abraham Lincoln. There is a question that is posed for our day and it is what can I do as an individual to secure my freedoms? I have two phrases for you: one is called you do not use it you lose it, or my second phrase is called GOYBADS which stands for get off your butt and do something. Unfortunately the current generation is a very entitled one. Our generation does not believe in working and fighting for what you've got. Our freedoms have slowly been taken and they will continue unless we use our rights as American individuals and they are: vote, protest, and take back the freedoms that are already compromised. Every American individual has a job to do so let's get going.
In the past Primary elections for 2014 Juab county had 2,794 people vote. The total population for juab county is 10,348. The total percentage of voting that went on earlier this month is only 27%! That horrible statistic is just more than one in four people voting. The percentage of Juab county voters in the 2012 presidential election is only 51%!! In the Bill of Rights the 15th amendment states that: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude-”-, this given Americans the right to vote no matter what however the second section to this amendment states that the Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. This gives Congress the power to essentially do whatever they want with the right to vote. Basic human nature is not to do something unless provoked or without reason. If we as a individuals do not start using our right to pick our government, the government will be provoked and have a reason to take away our right to choose our leaders therefore taking away our freedom. Our freedoms will be taken away if we as individuals keep wasting away our right to vote.
A key part of not using it and losing it is the right to protest. In the first amendment of the Bill of Rights it says that “Congress shall make no law respecting the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. When we do protest it uses our first amendment rights. If we protest about those freedoms that we as individuals are losing then we are pressuring a stop.Even if we use the right to protest just to use it without passion or commitment to the subject we are securing our individual freedoms simply by using our freedoms. Upon searching on the internet on rt.com/usa I found the following subheading: President Barack Obama signed his name to H.R. 347, officially making it a federal offense to cause a disturbance at certain political events — essentially criminalizing protest in the States. You can’t even protest about the right to protest! The right to protest is key in securing our individuals because it is a key right and congress keeps slowly taking our rights, even the rights to protest is slowly being taken away. In short please use your individual right to protest simply by protesting, it is the best way to keep America from destroying itself from the inside.
you do matter
There is one final thing we can do as individuals to secure our freedoms. We can all get involved. Read the newspaper, watch the news, go to town hall meetings, protest in your local cities, help pass out flyers for the candidate who you think will be the best, participate in petitions, surveys, and even those annoying candidate phone calls . When I was in 4th grade it was the 2010 presidential election so on the day of the election me and my brother got ¼ sheets of paper and wrote in our elementary school handwriting to vote for Mitt Romney and specific instructions on how not to vote for Obama, and we passed the sheets to houses all over our neighborhood. City, county, state, or even country be involved, use your rights and freedoms to their full potential. You do matter! Use that to your advantage and get involved.When we as individuals get involved we show initiative which in turn shows those who try to take away, reduce or violate our freedoms that they have no reason to do so and they will be responsible and the ones who will be taking the blame.
We as individual Americans can prevent the loss of our freedoms and the failure of this great country by voting, protesting, and getting involved in the country around us. The civil war was the most damaging war in America’s history and it was the war within our country. Abraham Lincoln's quote, no doubt was absolutely correct when he said: "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms it will be because we destroyed ourselves." Don’t let this amazing strong country be the thing that destroys itself.
