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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. Who is the provost for research at Harvard University that argues in the Afterword that giving patients control over their tissues is shortsighted?

2. Where was Bobbette employed when she learned about Henrietta's connection to HeLa cells from Gardenia's brother-in-law?

3. Who is the molecular biologist that founded the Genetics and Public Policy Center at Johns Hopkins University?

4. Who was the young Johns Hopkins researcher that sent a gift to Deborah Lacks by way of Rebecca Skloot when Rebecca met Deborah for the first time?

5. Who is the director of the Division of Genetics and Developmental Biology at the National Institute of General Medical Science that is quoted in the Afterword?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Deborah Lacks fail to attend the Foundation for Cancer Research's event dedicated to her mother in Part Three: Immortality – Chapter 37?

2. What are the two main points of controversy regarding tissue research, according to the author in the Afterword?

3. When did Deborah Lacks die? What is significant about the timing of her death in Rebecca Skloot's narrative?

4. How were Deborah and Zakariyya affected by their meeting with Christoph Lengauer at Johns Hopkins?

5. What did Cousin Gary do in order to calm down Deborah in Part Three: Immortality – Chapter 35?

6. How does the author describe the development of tissue research today? What are tissue samples used for?

7. How did Bobbette Lacks respond when she discovered the history of HeLa cells?

8. How does Rebecca Skloot describe the financial gains of George and Margaret Gey as a result of the cultivation of HeLa cells?

9. What gift did Rebecca Skloot give to Deborah Lacks when she first met her in person? How did Deborah respond?

10. What legal options does Rebecca Skloot describe for the Lacks family in the Afterword?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does the author depict the repercussions of the loss of a parent in the narrative? How do you think Henrietta's life would have differed if her mother had lived? How would Deborah's life have been changed?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the depiction of Courtney Speed in the narrative. What was Courtney Speed's relationship with the Lacks family? How did Ms. Speed assist Rebecca Skloot in her research?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the use of HeLa cells in hybridization research. When did scientist first create animal-human hybrid cells? What was the purpose of this study?

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