How we cite our quotes: (Page)
Quote #1
If [TeLinde] could prove that carcinoma in situ and invasive carcinoma looked and behaved similarly in the laboratory, he could end the debate, showing that he'd been right all along, and doctors who ignored him were killing their patients. So he called George Gey [...] head of tissue culture research at Hopkins. (30)
There's a whole lotta science happening in this book, so hold on tight. This first bit is crucial to understand. The understanding of cancer staging was still pretty basic in Henrietta's day, so we fully appreciate the contribution of HeLa cells to research. With Henrietta's cells, TeLinde could see just how cancer cells metastasized and became even more deadly.
Quote #2
The Geys were determined to grow the first immortal human cells: a continuously dividing line of cells all descended from one original sample, cells that would constantly replenish themselves and never die. (30)
Explanation Alert!!! Make sure you don't miss this one, or you'll miss the core issue in Henrietta Lacks' story. Gey knew the importance of having an immortal cell line for scientific research: scientists could conduct experiments repeatedly and see how the human body would react on the cellular level without using actual humans. And this is good, because infecting actual people with major diseases isn't nice.
Quote #3
The pouches were called Brack plaques, after the Hopkins doctor who invented them and oversaw Henrietta's radium treatment. He would later die of cancer, most likely caused by his regular exposure to radium, as would a resident who traveled with Kelly and also transported radium in his pockets. (32)
Radium, used in research and treatment, killed a lot of people back in the day; its dangers weren't widely appreciated. Even today, treatments involving radiation and chemo create secondary cancers. It's a risk we now know more about, so patients are informed about the possibility. That in itself is a huge advance.