Rebecca Skloot, 33rd Annual ODU Literary Festival

Rebecca Skloot is a science writer whose work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine; O, The Oprah Magazine; Discover; Columbia Journalism Review; and many other publications. Her first book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, was published in 2010 to critical and popular acclaim. She is a contributing editor at Popular Science, and has worked as a correspondent for NPR’s RadioLab and PBS’s Nova ScienceNOW

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/commonbook-archive/1011/thumbnail.jp

Genomic Research with the Newly Dead: A Crossroads for Ethics and Policy

Recent advances in next generation sequencing along with high hopes for genomic medicine have inspired interest in genomic research with the newly dead. However, applicable law does not adequately determine ethical or policy responses to such research. In this paper we propose that such research stands at a crossroads between other more established biomedical clinical and research practices. In addressing the ethical and policy issues raised by a particular research project within our institution comparatively with these other practices, we illustrate the moral significance of paying careful heed to where one looks for guidance in responding to ethical questions raised by a novel endeavor