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Important history of the woman behind HeLa, and well-researched. However, I was heartily tired of how all of the black people in the book that spoke were characterized as "yelling." Seriously, I realize that white Americans and black Americans may have different ways of communicating and expressing emotions, but everybody was not yelling all the time. Although this journalist really went the extra mile to uncover the story, the cultural divide shows in her writing, and it annoyed me to no end.
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Oct 31, 2012
Dana Berglund
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review of another edition
Shelves:
youngadult,
memoir-biography
Very interesting and thought provoking book about medical ethics, racism, personal responsibility, and legacy. It seems to be popping up in different media and conversations everywhere, so I was glad to finally understand what it was all about. I raged to friends who would listen about the inequity and injustice involved, but was left with many questions about how the medical professions/industry continues to treat human cells. The author has many resources and more information on her website, w
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I enjoyed this one - it took me a long time to read and I'm not quite sure why. Well, after the initial 'I have uterine cancer' fear it engendered(as far as I know I don't have cancer). A nice combination of history, science and biography and ethics and an overview of the progression of bioethics over the last few decadess as well as the family of the woman.
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