ESL099: HeLa

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Article on Ways to Prevent Cancer

Real Age article: 9 Ways to Prevent Cancer:
http://www.realage.com/disease-prevention/9-ways-to-prevent-cancer?eid=1010659789&memberid=7862579

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Tell the writer what you liked about their post (e.g., really interesting information, great ideas, good vocabulary, excellent academic writing, etc.).
Give your own opinion on the topic(s) the writer was writing about.
Ask the writer one question about what they wrote or the topic they wrote about.

Your comments for BP #2 are due by Thursday, Jan. 12

Your comments for BP #3 and BP #4 are due by Thursday, Jan. 19
Your comments for BP #5 are due by Tuesday, Jan. 24
Your comments for BP #6 are due by Monday, Jan. 30
Your comments for BP #7 are due by Tuesday, Jan. 31
Your comments for BP #8 are due by Tuesday, Feb. 7

Lab Assignment: Text for Editing Practice (see posts below)

Please look at the selected paragraphs in the post below regarding text editing.

Please copy and paste all the text into your own blog post and work to edit and correct the paragraphs. Edit for the following:

grammar
"boring" or unsophisticated vocabulary
fragments or run-ons
adding better transitions and organizational phrases

Your own blog post can be titled: Text Editing Practice

Text for Editing Practice, Part II (Music and Health essay)

Paragraph A (body paragraph):

In my opinion, I am agreement on music therapy is a good method for health. For instance, I have heard that doctor often advices people to hear some gentler music to keep gently. That makes a good environment to help people to ease anxiety, and helps sick cure quick.

Paragraph B (conclusion paragraph):

In conclusion, we can get different messages from the music. For instance, when we feel the stress of getting too much work to deal with, we can use the music to relax ourselves. On the other hand, we can also use music to keep our bodies to stay healthy. To me, music is a magic tool to help us managing our mind.

Paragraph C (conclusion paragraph):

Music has many powerful ways to effects our body and mind. It relaxes our body and prevents the harmful effects of chronic stress. Now, we can think about music therapy and other benefits of it without wondering, and believe that music is a good tool for health.

Text for Editing Practice, Part I (Body Art essay)

Paragraph A (body paragraph):

First, people commonly possess a desire to be different, and not only on a person level, but also with the way they create their own social group, adopting one or the other significant outer attribute as a sign of belonging. There are some another cases somewhat foreign for our environment when specific punctures of even scars are a must ritual for entering certain culture society. If piercing specialist is nervous or just not feeling well, then his or her negative energy will affect the patient in bad way. Moreover, the consequence could not only be external. Entire organism could be damage energetically.

Paragraph B (intro paragraph):

During the time, most of people in the world like to piercings on various parts of their bodies, but there are a high percentage of men, women, and college students. Because many people believe that tattoos can appear themselves very special in the street. Also, the most important thing is that different ethnicities of people have different opinion about tattoos in their bodies. I think piercings on various parts of their bodies are not ruthless, but it is concerning to appearance problems of people.

Paragraph C (body paragraph):

I think that piecing or tattoo on bodies do not make the difference from others. It just a sight, they want to change and show the world their way of being free and to see the things. I remember a friend who formed part of a band, he used to sing at parties and other places where a lot of young people gathered to hear him sang. However, he composed the lyrics of his songs but his songs related his way of thinking against violence, religion and politics. At Final, he always said “this is my life; I am free to do wherever I want” His attitude convince some young people piercing and tattoo like him because they said that they feel identified with him and the way to see the things.

Monday, February 6, 2012

BP #9 - Final Reflection on HeLa

Please write a reflection in which you discuss how you would feel if you found out that your cells were being used.

Please answer both of the following questions in your reflection:

You almost certainly know someone who has benefitted directly from research conducted using HeLa cells, as so much research on so many diseases has been conducted using HeLa.

If you learned that tissue removed from your body during a routine procedure or examination at a doctor's office at some point in the past had gone on to significantly benefit science and research, would you feel that you should be retroactively compensated?
Which do you think is more important - your right to control your own tissue, or contributing to science and research for the greater good of humanity?

Please title your blog post: BP #9 - Final Reflection on HeLa

**BP #9 is due by Wednesday, Feb. 8**

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Ask the Expert! Talk to Joanne Johnson, Clinical Research Nurse in Cancer Treatment

Dear Students,

Here is your chance to ask questions about modern medical practices and research, particularly about cancer research. My mother, Joanne Johnson, will answer your questions!

INTRODUCTION:

I want to introduce you to my mother, Joanne Johnson, who has been reading the Henrietta Lacks book at the same time that we have been reading it. I gave Henrietta Lacks to her for Christmas because I knew that she would really connect to things in the book and enjoy reading it. I also showed her our class blog, so she has been looking at your blogs about HeLa subjects.

My mother worked for over 20 years as a Clinical Research Nurse in a cancer research clinic in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, working with cancer patients who were being treated on clinical trials or research studies. She worked a lot with informed consent forms and the process of obtaining them from patients. She also was involved in sending blood and tissue samples to research headquarters and labs for research purposes. In addition, Joanne counseled patients on how to deal with their disease and helped to counsel family members about how to help patients and what to expect if they were dying.

She would love to help answer some of your questions about how research on human subjects is conducted and the safety and ethical measures that are in place for the protection and privacy of the patients. She can also answer your questions about cancer research today, common cancer issues, and the ways that cancer clinics like the one she worked at talks to patients and gives them choices about their treatments. You can ask her about counseling patients and family members, too.

Joanne Johnson

A MESSAGE FROM JOANNE:

Yes, I am Dr. Rebekah Johnson's mother talking to you from Iowa, in the middle of the north central United States. I have truly enjoyed reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and also your blogs related to that. I have enjoyed interacting with Rebekah about things in the book, as well as interacting with my sister in Oregon (northwest US) who read the book for a "Book Club" assignment and discussion. I enjoyed the story of the life of Henrietta and of her children, as it gave me a good picture of how life was in the South in the 1940's and 50's, and also of how it was to be Black or African American. I felt like I knew the Lacks family when I got done with the book.

Mu biggest interest, however, was in the medical treatment, HeLa blood samples and growth, and their use in medical research, especially cancer. I worked for 21 years as a Clinical Research Nurse in which I enrolled cancer patients on studies after getting their informed consent. I followed them in weekly visits and sometimes phone calls in between. I kept detailed accounts of their treatments, side effects of treatment, and benefits or outcomes of treatments. I was responsible for modifying their medicine doses when side effects were too great, and calculating their doses for each treatment according to the specific protocol they were on.

I attended meetings of Clinical Research groups around the country and learned about new cancer treatments and studies from some of the best Doctors in the field. Two of my colleagues were in Washington, DC, on 9-11-2001, at the conference where Deborah would have spoken about her mother, if the plane had not hit the Pentagon that day and cancelled all meetings and travels.

I look forward to answering some of your questions to the best of my ability and experience.

ASSIGNMENT:

Please write TWO OR MORE questions related to cancer treatment, cancer research, informed consent, new cancer medicines, research and patient's rights laws, recent findings in research, and medical advancement.

Post each question as a separate comment below and Joanne will reply to as many of your questions as she can.

**Your questions (posted as separate comments below) are due TODAY, Feb. 2**