To touch living fragments of dead people 

Many scientists in the lab grow and care for human cells daily. Working with these cells has been the foundation of many discoveries. Some of these cells are from cancers and continue to grow and outlive the humans they originate from, some of whom they may have killed. Some cells immortalized in the lab originated from an unborn fetus. Some cells, like their human wholes, albeit isolated in a dish, live for a while, then age and die. How do scientists view these cells stripped of their personhood? Just as raw materials for the next experiment or symbols of the human condition in a Petri dish?