The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot was published in 2010. I wanted to read it at the time, but somehow never got round to it. I finally read it recently.
Henrietta Lacks was a poor black woman in the USA. She died of cervical cancer in 1951, at the age of just 31. Before her death, a sample of her cancer was taken. Scientists and doctors had tried many times to get human cells to survive and multiply outside the human body, but never achieved it. Henrietta Lacks’s cancer cells grew, multiplied and survived. And they’re still living now. Known as HeLa, trillions and trillions of them have been used by scientists around the world. They’ve been used in hundreds of ways to test medicines and find out more about diseases. They’ve even been into space.
And it was 20 years before Henrietta’s family knew anything about the cells and their immortal life.
Her children and husband were confused and frightened by the cells’ immortal life. All poorly educated and highly religious, they couldn’t understand how the cells could keep on living long after Henrietta’s death. Then they were angry that the cells were taken away without consent and were sold, while the family couldn’t even afford to see a doctor.
Rebecca Skloot first became interested in HeLa and Henrietta as a student. There were a handful of articles about the woman behind the cells. She wanted to tell her full story. But first she had to persuade the family that she wasn’t acting for anyone and wasn’t being paid by anyone. Could they trust this white woman when so many other white people had stitched them up?
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is an entirely true story, with no names or details changed. Quotes from Henrietta’s family, particularly her daughter, Deborah, are written exactly as they were spoken.
It is a story about race and poverty, science, medicine and ethics. It is a biography of a remarkable woman and her family and a study of the rights and wrongs of medicine and consent. It is a remarkable read.
Whether you are interested in science and medicine or race and poverty, I would definitely recommend The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
I like the sound of this one
Thank you! It is really interesting and definitely well worth a read.
This sounds incredibly intriguing. I’d be interested to read it.
It is really interesting! It’s very thought provoking and well worth a read.
I’d forgotten all about this book and the buzz it created when it was published. Sounds like a very interesting story, with lots of ups and downs. Though I think it’s so sad that her family wasn’t informed about the cells taken from their loved one and how they were being used.
It is such an interesting book and raises so many important questions. It is very sad that her family weren’t kept informed.