As exhibited by the research community's response to the public reaction to publication of the HeLa genome, privacy and consent issues are likely to become predominant concerns in the public psyche. An author at Slate Magazine, for instance, outlined the questions that are likely on the minds of the readers of this popular news source, “… the prevailing theme of Skloot's book is not on the question of how much Lacks and her family are owed; rather, it's that Lacks' doctors experimented on and distributed her cells without asking, or telling, her or her family” (Singer-Vine, 2010). Meanwhile a writer for Essence magazine explained, “[t]he big thing with Henrietta's cells is the privacy violation. Her medical records were published at one point by a journalist so there are these questions about her privacy. There are also a lot of questions about whether you should take something from somebody without asking” (Watts, 2012). As other countries build their own genomic research laboratories and data collection processes, it is becoming clear that the research community has an opportunity here to build a legacy that will influence the public's opinion on research, data-sharing and informational privacy for years to come.
