The sort of thinking at the time was, 'Well, we're giving you access to medical care which you wouldn't otherwise be able to get, so your payment is that we get to use you in research.'
Rebecca SklootBut I tell you one thing, I don't want to be immortal if it mean living forever, cause then everybody else just die and get old in front of you while you stay the same, and that's just sad.
Rebecca SklootOnly cells that had been transformed by a virus or a genetic mutation had the potential to become immortal.
Rebecca SklootFor scientists, growing cells took so much work that they couldn't get much research done. So the selling of cells was really just for the sake of science, and there weren't a lot of profits.
Rebecca Skloot