HeLa cells - Good read.

Thread Starter

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,619
Imagine having unique cells in your body that are in demand by scientist's and drug companies world wide still to this day and long after your death.
These cells were harvested without your knowledge and as a result in some cases billion dollar companies are formed on the basis of these cells.
You and your family have to go to a charity hospital when sick as you cannot afford health care costs.

Some or many of you may have heard or read of HeLa cells, but until now I was unaware of these cells until I picked up the book "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by American author Rebecca Skloot. It is about the life of Henrietta Lacks and the immortal cell line, known as HeLa, that came from Lacks's cervical cancer cells.
Good read.
Max.
 

wayneh

Joined Sep 9, 2010
17,496
I was a biochemist in a former life, and spent a couple years working with my HeLa cell cultures. She has had more biomass in death than she ever had in life. It would make for an interesting sci-fi premise if she could now be brought back after a few decades in .... limbo?
 

cmartinez

Joined Jan 17, 2007
8,220
Imagine having unique cells in your body that are in demand by scientist's and drug companies world wide still to this day and long after your death.
These cells were harvested without your knowledge and as a result in some cases billion dollar companies are formed on the basis of these cells.
You and your family have to go to a charity hospital when sick as you cannot afford health care costs.

Some or many of you may have heard or read of HeLa cells, but until now I was unaware of these cells until I picked up the book "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by American author Rebecca Skloot. It is about the life of Henrietta Lacks and the immortal cell line, known as HeLa, that came from Lacks's cervical cancer cells.
Good read.
Max.
Thanks Max! Your recommendation is a godsend, since I've been looking for something entertaining to read for the last couple of days. I've just finished reading The Coldest Winter, which is about the Korean War. Great read for those who love history. I have a rule: for every entertainment (mainly fiction) book that I read, the next one has to be non-fiction. Your recommendation falls right between both categories. Thanks again!
 
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Thread Starter

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,619
I have a rule: for every entertainment (mainly fiction) book that I read, the next one has to be non-fiction. Your recommendation falls right between both categories. Thanks again!
Hope you enjoy it, but I am not sure how it would fall between fiction and non-fiction?
This did not appear to be off the cuff writing as the author spent 10yrs in research and background history on the events and interviewing participants still living.
Max.
 

killivolt

Joined Jan 10, 2010
835
Hope you enjoy it, but I am not sure how it would fall between fiction and non-fiction?
This did not appear to be off the cuff writing as the author spent 10yrs in research and background history on the events and interviewing participants still living.
Max.
Glad you did your do diligence so I'm not once again fooled.

Bra size? I was thinking more about what those guys running in the street are seeing overhead.
Thats what I was thinking, I remember a scene from "Dude, Where's my car" father and son get an unexpected peek. :eek:

kv
 

Thread Starter

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,619
Because it's also a drama ...
I guess I use a slightly different definition.;)
Max.

Quote: under The Five Main Genres of Literature

Non-Fiction
Poetry and Drama both belong to the broader category of Fiction—texts that feature events and characters that have been made up.

Then there is non-fiction, a vast category that is a type of prose and includes many different sub-genres. Non-fiction can be creative, such as the personal essay, or factual, such as the scientific paper.
Sometimes the purpose of non-fiction is to tell a story (hence the autobiography), but most of the time the purpose is to pass on information and educate the reader about certain facts, ideas, and/or issues.

Some genres of non-fiction include histories, textbooks, travel books, newspapers, self-help books, and literary criticism. A full list of non-fiction types would be at least as long as this entire article. But the varieties most often used in the classroom are textbooks, literary criticism, and essays of various sorts. Most of what students practice writing in the classroom is the non-fiction essay, from factual to personal to persuasive. And non-fiction is often used to support and expand students’ understanding of fiction texts—after reading Hamlet students might read critical articles about the play and historical information about the time period and/or the life of Shakespeare.
 
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Thread Starter

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,619
Another good little read, What The Dog Saw by Malcom Gladwell.
He was writer for the New Yorker and the book is based on some of the articles and his additions to the stories that were published by the magazine.
Everything from RJ Popeil of Chop-O-Matic fame to the competions between CIA and FBI before 9/11.
Some thought provoking articles on life in general.
The book's title is based on an article about the Dog Whisperer.
I have issues with his last article entitled Troublemakers and his opinions on the certain reasons for dog behavior.
Max.
 
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