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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. When were HeLa cells fused with mouse cells to create the first animal-human hybrid cells?

2. What term refers to the belief and practice which aims at improving the genetic quality of the human population through selective reproduction?

3. What illness did Hector Henry suffer from during his childhood?

4. Where was Roland Pattillo working as a professor of gynecology when Rebecca Skloot first contacted him regarding Henrietta Lacks?

5. What extra chromosome appears in individuals with Down syndrome?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did George Gey do with the HeLa cells that he obtained and cultured at his labs? What were Gey's objectives?

2. How is Henrietta Lacks's funeral described in Part Two: Death? Who attended Henrietta's funeral? Where was she buried?

3. What advancements and discoveries were made due to research using HeLa cells from 1960-1966?

4. How were tissue samples obtained following Henrietta Lacks's death? Why were they obtained?

5. What illness was contracted within the Lacks family after Henrietta's death? How were they affected by this illness?

6. What precedent was set by the 1957 case of patient Martin Salgo?

7. Why were HeLa cells useful in the study of virology and research into diseases? Was the malignant nature of the cells a factor?

8. What diagnosis did the doctors from Johns Hopkins reach regarding Henrietta's condition after her first visit? What treatment was available at this time for her condition?

9. How did Henrietta meet David Lacks? How did their early relationship develop?

10. What unethical actions were committed by virologist Chester Southam in his research with HeLa cells?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Describe and discuss the laws and regulations that have been implemented in the United States since 1951 to protect patients like Henrietta Lacks. If Henrietta were hospitalized today, would she have faced a different system? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the narrative and language styles seen in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. How does the narrative shift in the course of the book? How does the dialogue in the narrative differ from the language style of the author? What literary devices are employed the most in the story?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the impact of Henrietta's death on Zakariyya in the narrative. How did Zakariyya feel about George Gey? Why? What helped to change Zakariyya's impressions of the scientific community? How?

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