Professional Documents
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Biology
By Brianna Massey
What is biology?
Biology is the study of living organisms and all aspects of life-
whether that be through function of cells on a microscopic
level or examination of a specific species as a whole.
Rosalind Franklin
Franklin was the one who began using x-rays to see the
actual structure of DNA, and was never credited by Watson
and Crick.
1950’s: Henrietta Lacks
Henrietta Lacks was a poor Black woman who had
cervical cancer. A biopsy of her cancer was taken
into a lab and it was quickly discovered that her
cells do not die like normal cells do. Her cells were
used to develop standard cell medium and
proper sanitation protocols, and the cells are still
being used around the world today. However,
Henrietta and her family were not well-educated,
and so for many years they did not truly
understand what was happening with Henrietta’s
cells.
1950’s: Angella
Dorothea Ferguson
Ferguson graduated with a degree in pediatrics
from Howard University in 1949. Ferguson quickly
realized that most research was done on children
of European descent, so there was some
discrepancy between the African American
children. Later on, she created her own pediatric
practice in 1953 and created her own research on
information from African American children in
order to answer parents questions.
1950’s: Henrietta Lacks
Henrietta Lacks was a poor Black woman who had
cervical cancer. A biopsy of her cancer was taken
into a lab and it was quickly discovered that her
cells do not die like normal cells do. Her cells were
used to develop standard cell medium and
proper sanitation protocols, and the cells are still
being used around the world today. However,
Henrietta and her family were not well-educated,
and so for many years they did not truly
understand what was happening with Henrietta’s
cells.
1970’s: Patricia Bath
Patricia Bath was the creator of a laser eye
surgery capable of giving sight back to those who
are almost blind. She was one of the first women
to lead a post-graduate training program in
ophthalmology.
2021: Treena Arinzeh
The main part of her work focuses on tissue
regeneration, she is also part of a program that
allows high school students from economically
disadvantaged areas into her lab for summer
internships.
Continued Issues
Though there have been Black and Brown scholars in science
for many years, they tend to remain in the shadows and many
are not as widely known as some of the white predecessors.
Resources
● https://www.britannica.com/science/biology/The-history-of-biology
● https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-biology/
● https://www.biography.com/scientists/gregor-mendel
● https://www.forbes.com/sites/evaamsen/2019/05/02/leonardo-da-vincis-scientific-studies-500-years-later/
?sh=1b38fa877f46
● https://www.biography.com/scientists/robert-hooke
● https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/charles-darwin-most-famous-biologist.html
● https://www.biography.com/scientists/rosalind-franklin
● https://www.history.com/news/the-infamous-40-year-tuskegee-study
● https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/people-african-american-history/angella-dorothea-fer
guson-1925/
● The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
● https://www.regmednet.com/women-to-watch-developing-functional-biomaterials-for-tissue-regeneration-
with-dr-treena-arinzeh/
● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcE_QMTBNW4