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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. On what date did Roland Pattillo organize the first annual HeLa Cancer Control Symposium?
(a) March 25, 1992.
(b) October 11, 1996.
(c) September 15, 1999.
(d) September 29, 1970.

2. Rebecca Skloot states in Part Three: Immortality, Chapter 24 that a search of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office database shows how many patents involving HeLa cells?
(a) 32,000.
(b) 5,000.
(c) 17,000.
(d) 12,000.

3. Who was the president of the National Foundation for Cancer Research in 2001?
(a) Franklin Salisbury, Jr.
(b) Dr. Richard Wesley TeLinde.
(c) William Scherer.
(d) Walter Nelson-Rees.

4. How did Deborah describe Cootie's death to Rebecca in Part Three: Immortality, Chapter 38?
(a) He was killed in prison.
(b) He was hit by a car.
(c) He died from cancer.
(d) He shot himself.

5. Who was the young Johns Hopkins researcher that sent a gift to Deborah Lacks by way of Rebecca Skloot when Rebecca met Deborah for the first time?
(a) Christoph Lengauer.
(b) George Gey.
(c) Terry Sharrer.
(d) Dr. Howard Jones.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who is the molecular biologist that founded the Genetics and Public Policy Center at Johns Hopkins University?

2. In what year did President Clinton's National Bioethics Advisory Commission issue a report saying that federal oversight of tissue research was "inadequate" and "ambiguous"?

3. What corporation owns the patents to BRCA1 and BRCA2, the genes responsible for most cases of breast and ovarian cancer?

4. Who was the BBC producer that began making a documentary about the Lacks family in the 1990s?

5. When Deborah took Rebecca Skloot to meet her brother Zakariyya, she reminded her that she should never make the mistake of calling him by what name?

Short Essay Questions

1. What factors contributed to the Lacks family's distrust of Rebecca and of the scientific community?

2. What statement does Rebecca Skloot make about the legality of Johns Hopkins' actions in Henrietta's case in the Afterword?

3. How does Rebecca Skloot describe the financial gains of George and Margaret Gey as a result of the cultivation of HeLa cells?

4. What concerns did Deborah Lacks present to Rebecca Skloot during their first in-person meeting? What were Deborah's fears about HeLa cells and their use?

5. How did Deborah's behavior change after her visit to Crownsville with Rebecca?

6. When did Deborah Lacks die? What is significant about the timing of her death in Rebecca Skloot's narrative?

7. What did Rebecca Skloot and Deborah Lacks encounter when they first arrived at Crownsville in Part Three: Immortality – Chapter 33?

8. What legal issues arose for the Lacks descendants in 2013? How were these issues resolved?

9. Discuss the actions of the doctors at Johns Hopkins in obtaining blood samples for research from the Lacks family. What was unethical about these actions?

10. How were Deborah and Zakariyya affected by their meeting with Christoph Lengauer at Johns Hopkins?

(see the answer keys)

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