Reference no: EM13583366

Please express your opinion of this case in a sourced essay of no less than 400 words. Standard English and MLA format.

Henrietta Lacks was the source for HeLa cells. There are several articles to read and form an opinion on the topic of privacy. Who owns your DNA? According to the Guardian,

"The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks raises the critical issue of the rights of patients whose tissue has been removed and used as the basis for new treatments and drugs. Who owns that tissue and what rights do providers of samples have over their own cells?

At present, virtually all judgments on these issues have been made in favour of scientists and drug companies. In agreeing to treatment in hospital, patients are effectively giving up ownership of the cells of their samples, it has been decreed.

Nevertheless, numerous groups - including the American Civil Liberties Union - say that in many cases companies are too eager to establish ownership of patent rights on discoveries made from donated tissue samples. And as more and more such discoveries are made, the controversies surrounding such issues can only intensify."

What is your opinion after reading part of the Henrietta Lacks story? Do we have a right to privacy? If our genetic material may be profitable - can we or should we profit?

McKie, Robin, ed. "The Guardian.com." News World news Ethics Henrietta Lacks's cells were priceless, but her family can't afford a hospital. The Guardian, 3 Apr 2010. Web. 23 Sep 2013.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/apr/04/henrietta-lacks-cancer-cells>.