Shobita Parthasarathy, professor of public policy and director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program, discussed the ethical concerns surrounding the lawsuit filed against Thermo Fisher Scientific by the family of Henrietta Lacks regarding the sale of her cells. Thermo Fisher sought to dismiss the case on Tuesday.
"They don't necessarily know that the work that they're doing is on a foundation of inequity and injustice," she said. "And I sometimes wonder how, if they were more aware of that, they might engage in different kinds of practices."