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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. In what year did members of the Native American Havasupai Tribe sue Arizona State University for using tissue samples from the tribe to study schizophrenia and inbreeding?

2. Who came with Deborah to Johns Hopkins to see Henrietta Lacks's cells?

3. What corporation owns the patents to BRCA1 and BRCA2, the genes responsible for most cases of breast and ovarian cancer?

4. Who is the director of the Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society at Vanderbilt that the author cites in the Afterword?

5. What DNA testing company is described by the author in the Afterword as only providing customers with genealogical information "if they first sign a form granting permission for their samples to be stored for future research"?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What concerns did Deborah Lacks present to Rebecca Skloot during their first in-person meeting? What were Deborah's fears about HeLa cells and their use?

4. What information did Rebecca and Deborah discover about Elsie and the conditions she lived in at Crownsville in Part Three: Immortality – Chapter 33?

5. Discuss the actions of the doctors at Johns Hopkins in obtaining blood samples for research from the Lacks family. What was unethical about these actions?

6. How did Deborah's behavior change after her visit to Crownsville with Rebecca?

7. What factors contributed to the Lacks family's distrust of Rebecca and of the scientific community?

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

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

10. What did Deborah discover during her visit to her doctor after she returned from her research travels with Rebecca Skloot in 2001?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the qualities of HeLa cells. Why were HeLa cells different than other cells that researchers had attempted culturing in the past? What made HeLa cells invaluable to scientific progress?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the case of Ted Slavin. What discovery did Ted Slavin make regarding his cells? Who assisted Ted Slavin in his endeavors? How did Slavin's situation differ from that of Henrietta Lacks?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the themes of abuse, family, and loss in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. What symbolism and imagery support these themes? What abuses were suffered by the Lacks family? How did the family members cope with grief and loss?

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