The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Rebecca Skloot
Science & Nature
James Mustich
Jul 31, 2018
At a fundamental level, Henrietta Lacks’s contribution to the advance of medical science may be as great as that of anyone who has ever lived. Her cells, obtained without her permission or knowledge during treatment for terminal cancer in 1951, were the first human cells to be replicated and kept alive under controlled conditions in a laboratory. The cell line her tissue culture spawned enabled numerous breakthroughs, including the development of the polio vaccine, cloning techniques, chemotherapy drugs, AIDS medications, in vitro fertilization, and gene mapping, as well as tests for sensitivities to many medicines and products. Told with a narrative fluency equal to the technical and emotional challenges of her subject—including profound ethical questions of patient consent and family privacy— Skloot’s book is animated by voices that reveal, again and again, the shifting perspectives that make the story of Henrietta Lacks so compelling.
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Leslie Maxwell
Jan 3, 2020
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