VOA慢速英语2010年-EXPLORATIONS -‘The Immortal Life of

STEVE EMBER: I’m Steve Ember.

FRITZI BODENHEIMER: And I’m Fritzi Bodenheimer with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today we tell about one of the most important scientific discoveries of the last century -- the development of HeLa cells. Reporter Rebecca Skloot explores this in her book “The Immortal¹ Life of Henrietta Lacks.” The book is a history of science, professional morals and the human story behind a famous line of cells.

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STEVE EMBER: For much of his career, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland had been working to find a way to grow human cells outside the body. George Gey and his team of researchers wanted to grow cancer cells in a laboratory. They believed scientists could study this illness to understand its causes and find a cure.

Dr. Gey tested many different human cells in many kinds of liquid. But the cells always died quickly. However, one day in nineteen fifty-one, his search came to an end. Cancer cells from a patient at the university’s hospital were more than just surviving. These cells were growing faster than anyone had ever seen before.

HeLa cells as seen through a powerful microscope

Dr. Gey discussed his findings with other scientists. He provided them with some of these HeLa cells to use in their own research. He began giving the cells to researchers across the country, free of charge. Soon, scientists in labs around the world were using these cells. Later, the production of this line of cells by companies would grow into an industry worth millions of dollars.

FRITZI BODENHEIMER: This kind of cell-line is called “immortal.” This means the cells can keep growing and reproducing² indefinitely. Normal cells reproduce³ for a limited time before dying.

For the first time, scientists around the world had a limitless number of cells they could use to test the effects of diseases, medicines and chemicals.

Jonas Salk used these HeLa cells to test the first vaccine⁴ for polio. HeLa cells have gone to the moon to test the effect of zero gravity. They have been used to study cancer, AIDS, genetic⁵ testing, and drugs for illnesses including influenza⁶, herpes and Parkinson’s disease. And, these HeLa cells are still being made, sold and used in research today. One scientist estimated that if all the HeLa cells ever grown were gathered together, they would weigh more than fifty million metric tons.

STEVE EMBER: At this point, you may be wondering just where these famous HeLa cells came from. The first clue is in the name, HeLa. The cells were taken from the cervix of a woman named Henrietta Lacks. The word HeLa uses the first two letters of her first and last name. Henrietta Lacks was an African-American woman who was a cancer patient at Johns Hopkins University hospital. These cells were taken from her tumor⁷ without her knowledge or permission. Henrietta Lacks died of cancer in nineteen fifty-one leaving behind a husband and five children.

FRITZI BODENHEIMER: It was not until the nineteen seventies that Henrietta Lacks’ family learned that her cells had been taken and used by scientists. Learning about the existence of these HeLa cells was an emotional and difficult experience for the family. For the scientists who used these cells, HeLa was just a name. But for the family, Henrietta Lacks was a real person whose absence they continue to feel deeply. It was also not easy for the family to accept that her cells had fueled an industry worth millions of dollars. Yet the Lacks family had very little money, education or health insurance.

STEVE EMBER: Henrietta Lacks’ husband and children found out about the experiment done on her when scientists contacted them. The scientists wanted to do research on the family to learn more about the HeLa cells. The scientists conducted this research without their informed permission.

The case of Henrietta Lacks brings up several moral issues. Henrietta Lacks did not give her permission for the cells to be taken from her tumor. And the question remains⁸ whether her family had a legal or moral right to receive payment after something of monetary⁹ value was made from their mother’s cells.

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Rebecca Skloot

FRITZI BODENHEIMER: Rebecca Skloot is a science reporter. She first learned about HeLa cells in a biology class when she was sixteen years old. She became very interested in Henrietta Lacks and wanted to know more about her life. But there was almost no information about the person behind these famous cells.

Years later, Ms. Skloot began research for a book about Henrietta Lacks, her cells and their influence on medical and scientific history. The book would take her ten years to research and write. She interviewed many doctors, scientists, lawyers, reporters and experts on medical ethics¹⁰. She also became very close friends with the Lacks family.

Rebecca Skloot tells this complex story by going back and forth¹¹ between subjects and time periods. Her book involves three stories. One is an explanation of science, medicine and professional morality¹². Another is the story of Henrietta Lacks’ life. And the third is the reporter’s story as she becomes close to the Lacks children and helps them learn more about their mother’s influence on medical science.

STEVE EMBER: One story line in “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” is like a history lesson.

Rebecca Skloot explains about scientific and medical developments. Readers can better understand how informed consent and the question of morality in medical experiments have changed over time.

Today, there are laws in the United States that protect a patient receiving medical treatment. Doctors are required to fully¹³ inform a patient about his or her illness. The patient must agree to any treatment. But this practice of informed consent is relatively¹⁴ new.

FRITZI BODENHEIMER: In nineteen fifty-one, Henrietta Lacks did agree to be treated for her cervical cancer. But she was not told that a doctor had taken cells from her body for testing. Rebecca Skloot points out that this was not an unusual medical practice during this period. Johns Hopkins hospital provided care for poor people who could not pay for medical treatment. She says the common belief among doctors at the time was that they could use their patients in their research in exchange for free treatment.

STEVE EMBER: Rebecca Skloot discusses several well known cases where doctors failed to use moral judgment¹⁵. One famous example is the Tuskegee syphilis study, which began in the nineteen thirties. The United States Public Health Service and Tuskegee Institute in Alabama studied the effects of the disease syphilis on a group of poor African-American men.

The men were not fully told why they were being studied or what tests were being done to them.

Later, when penicillin¹⁶ was widely available, the researchers denied the men the drug that could have cured their illness. The study lasted for forty years. Most of the men died from syphilis, or problems from the disease. The study was finally shut down after an employee told a reporter about the experiment. The reporter then informed the public.

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FRITZI BODENHEIMER: Rebecca Skloot also did careful research to describe Henrietta Lacks. She writes about Henrietta’s childhood on a tobacco farm in Virginia, her marriage and her move to Baltimore, Maryland. She learned from Henrietta’s friends that she loved to dance and to paint her fingernails and toenails red.

Ms. Skloot had a difficult time gaining the trust of the Lacks family. But she slowly became friends with the family, especially Henrietta’s daughter, Deborah. She helped the family understand the importance of the HeLa cells and accept that the scientific community has gained so much from their use.

Rebecca Skloot says the Lacks family tested everything she thought she knew about faith, science, reporting and race. Ms. Skloot says her book is a result of what she learned along the way.

STEVE EMBER: Rebecca Skloot has established an organization called the Henrietta Lacks Foundation. She has donated some of the money she has earned from the book to the organization. The aim of the foundation is to provide money for family members of Henrietta Lacks. The money will help them get a good education and health care insurance – things that Henrietta herself never had. Rebecca Skloot says she hopes that scientific companies that have gained from HeLa cells will give back to the family whose ancestor changed the history of medicine.

FRITZI BODENHEIMER: This program was written and produced by Dana Demange. I’m Fritzi Bodenheimer.

STEVE EMBER: And I’m Steve Ember. You can comment this program on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English
 

1 immortal   

adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的

参考例句：

• The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
• The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽！

2 reproducing   

复制( reproduce的现在分词 )； 重现； 再版； 生殖

参考例句：

• Mind has become self-reproducing through man's capacity to transmit experience and its products cumulatively. 通过传递生活经验和积累创造的产品，人类的智慧在不断地进行着自我丰富。
• Spores form a lipid membrane during the process of reproducing. 孢于在生殖过程中形成类脂膜。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 预防生物武器

3 reproduce   

v.生育，繁殖，复制，重做

参考例句：

• The machine can reproduce a key in two minutes.这机器能在两分钟内复制一把钥匙。
• The picture will reproduce well.这照片会印得很清楚。

4 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

5 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

6 influenza   

n.流行性感冒，流感

参考例句：

• They took steps to prevent the spread of influenza.他们采取措施
• Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。

7 tumor   

n.（肿）瘤，肿块(英)tumour

参考例句：

• He was died of a malignant tumor.他死于恶性肿瘤。
• The surgeons irradiated the tumor.外科医生用X射线照射那个肿瘤。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

10 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

11 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

12 morality   

n.道德（性），德行，品行，道德观（规范）

参考例句：

• Morality was the emphasis of his speech.道德是他讲话的重点。
• He has overthrown the basic standards of morality.他已摒弃了基本的道德标准。

13 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

14 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

15 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

16 penicillin   

n.青霉素，盘尼西林

参考例句：

• I should have asked him for a shot of penicillin.我应当让他给我打一针青霉素的。
• Penicillin was an extremely significant medical discovery.青霉素是极其重要的医学发现。