The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - "The story of modern medicine and bioethics--and, indeed, race relations--is refracted beautifully, and movingly."--Entertainment Weekly NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE FROM HBO(R) STARRING OPRAH WINFREY AND ROSE BYRNE - ONE OF THE "MOST INFLUENTIAL" (CNN), "DEFINING" (LITHUB), AND "BEST" (THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER) BOOKS OF THE DECADE - ONE OF ESSENCE'S 50 MOST IMPACTFUL BLACK BOOKS OF THE PAST 50 YEARS - WINNER OF THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE HEARTLAND PRIZE FOR NONFICTION NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review - Entertainment Weekly - O: The Oprah Magazine - NPR - Financial Times - New York - Independent (U.K.) - Times (U.K.) - Publishers Weekly - Library Journal - Kirkus Reviews - Booklist - Globe and Mail Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells--taken without her knowledge--became one of the most important tools in medicine: The first "immortal" human cells grown in culture, which are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb's effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions. Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave. Henrietta's family did not learn of her "immortality" until more than twenty years after her death, when scientists investigating HeLa began using her husband and children in research without informed consent. And though the cells had launched a multimillion-dollar industry that sells human biological materials, her family never saw any of the profits. As Rebecca Skloot so brilliantly shows, the story of the Lacks family--past and present--is inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we are made of. Over the decade it took to uncover this story, Rebecca became enmeshed in the lives of the Lacks family--especially Henrietta's daughter Deborah. Deborah was consumed with questions: Had scientists cloned her mother? Had they killed her to harvest her cells? And if her mother was so important to medicine, why couldn't her children afford health insurance? Intimate in feeling, astonishing in scope, and impossible to put down, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks captures the beauty and drama of scientific discovery, as well as its human consequences.
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This book offers an emotionally honest perspective. I appreciate that the author not only conducted thorough research on HeLa cells but also took the time to connect with the Lacks family and understand their struggles with the institutionalized prejudice present in the healthcare system. It serves as a powerful call for better medical ethics in healthcare. I enjoyed this candid and sobering biography of Henrietta Lacks and the significant impact her cells have had on the scientific community as a whole.
3.75 Stars
I am torn about my rating of this book.
Henrietta Lacks deserves all the acknowledgment that she has had for her cells' impact on medicine, even if physicians maintained and prepped the cultures - they originated in her and grew on her own, so giving the physicians all the credit makes no sense to me. Medicine is where it is today because of Henrietta Lacks' cells, a fact agreed upon among us common folk and the medical field.
Some did not like that this story was also about her children and their lives, but from family reports, it is clear that she loved her children, and her children are her legacy just as much as her cells.
Since the theft of Henrietta Lacks' cells occurred around the time of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, this story reviews a bit of that and other similar stories of people's cells and body parts being used without permission and touches on the overall treatment of black people within medicine during the time.
A couple of things bothered me about this book. I did not like how aggressive Skloot was in contacting the family, pressuring them for interviews, and, in some instances, traumatizing them again.
I could not find whether Skloot has compensated the Lacks family in any way, and in the book, she even tells them they aren't going to get paid, and she will instead create a foundation in Henrietta Lacks' name. Starting a foundation in her name is wonderful, especially since it supports medical students. However, it does not compensate critical contributors to this story, such as Henrietta Lacks' late daughter Deborah and her children; it just rubs me the wrong way. I tried to look for this information but did not find anything.
I am torn about my rating of this book.
Henrietta Lacks deserves all the acknowledgment that she has had for her cells' impact on medicine, even if physicians maintained and prepped the cultures - they originated in her and grew on her own, so giving the physicians all the credit makes no sense to me. Medicine is where it is today because of Henrietta Lacks' cells, a fact agreed upon among us common folk and the medical field.
Some did not like that this story was also about her children and their lives, but from family reports, it is clear that she loved her children, and her children are her legacy just as much as her cells.
Since the theft of Henrietta Lacks' cells occurred around the time of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, this story reviews a bit of that and other similar stories of people's cells and body parts being used without permission and touches on the overall treatment of black people within medicine during the time.
A couple of things bothered me about this book. I did not like how aggressive Skloot was in contacting the family, pressuring them for interviews, and, in some instances, traumatizing them again.
I could not find whether Skloot has compensated the Lacks family in any way, and in the book, she even tells them they aren't going to get paid, and she will instead create a foundation in Henrietta Lacks' name. Starting a foundation in her name is wonderful, especially since it supports medical students. However, it does not compensate critical contributors to this story, such as Henrietta Lacks' late daughter Deborah and her children; it just rubs me the wrong way. I tried to look for this information but did not find anything.
This book was excellent! The science behind it was fascinating—deep enough to intrigue, but not overwhelming. I really felt connected to the characters throughout the narrative!
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