Kimberly McClure
In the Survey of Biology course (BIOL&100) I go over cells and cell division (mitosis and meiosis) with students. To continue our discussion of cell division I would like students to listen to a Radiolab podcast about Henrietta Lacks and the story of HeLa cells. The podcast details how the cells were acquired, how they have been used in basic research and in cancer treatment, and the vast inequities of the US healthcare system that mistreated a Black woman and her family starting in the 1950s through 1990s. I also include a paper published in the journal Nature that I’d like the students to read following the podcast entitled, “Henrietta Lacks: science must right a historical wrong.”